Torture
by iq2two
Summary: Jack McCoy's new assistant has a secret.
1. Chapter 1

_I don't own Law & Order or Jack McCoy or any other characters from any of the L&Os. I do own Geneva Williams, her brother, Melissa Goring, the two Feds, and the perps and victims._

_Please read and review. I have the basic storyline plotted out- this is going to be a very long and intersting story- but I only have the first few chapters written so far. I'll post more when people review, and the more reviews I get the more motivated I will be to work on it. _

"What can I do for you gentlemen?" D.A. Arthur Branch asked the two men seated in his office as he served them each a snifter of scotch. The men were Feds, although which branch of federal law enforcement they were from was anyone's guess. They were dressed in traditional Fed style- expensive suits, skinny blue ties. One was older, maybe fifty, with brown hair that was just beginning to grey. The other had a head of sleek black hair and appeared to be in his late thirties. Although they both were wearing friendly expressions, the younger one had a glint of cruelty in his eyes, and the older one's face was that of a sociopath: charming, but not sincere.

"I'm sure you're aware of how having the support of the federal government could help your reelection campaign," the older man said.

"Yes, but you didn't answer my question."

The younger Fed jumped in. "It's about a woman who worked in your office. In…" he consulted a notebook he was holding, "general felonies. Geneva Williams."

"Geneva doesn't work here anymore."

"We know," said the younger Fed. "That's the favor we need. You see, we had to… borrow her for a few months. Now we're done with her and she- or her brother, really, is threatening to stir up trouble if she can't get her job back."

"Well, I'm sorry, but she was replaced months ago. I'm not going to fire her replacement just to make her brother happy."

"Of course not," the older Fed agreed. "You'll do it to make _us_ happy. And it doesn't need to be her exact job, surely you have an opening for and A.D.A. somewhere."

Branch considered. Helping these men really could do a lot for his reelection. And there was a spot open… "She worked a case with Jack McCoy a few months ago, is that right?"

The younger Fed said, "She started to. Then the case became federal and we took charge of it." He didn't need to look at his notes for that. He knew every detail about _that_ case.

"I might have a place for her then. The A.D.A. who worked with McCoy just resigned, I can have Geneva take her place. But if she's not up to the job I won't let her keep it just because you're scared her brother will make trouble."

"That won't be a problem. We just need to be able to say we got her a job, we don't care if she keeps it. It wouldn't matter to us if you fire her," said the younger Fed.

The older one added, "One more thing. We'd appreciate it if you didn't let anyone know exactly why you're hiring her."

The younger one clarified almost menacingly, "In other words, don't tell anyone we had this little conversation."

Geneva Williams looked different than the last time Jack McCoy had seen her, six months earlier. Her bearing was hesitant, unsure of herself, almost scared, and she had lost more weight that was healthy. The dark bags under her eyes overshadowed her face, and her beautiful brown eyes, once sparkling with life, now were haunted.

"I don't know if you remember me, I'm Geneva Williams, we worked a case together a while ago, or started to at least- the Azar case." Her voice too was less confident than it had been.

"The one the Feds stole. I remember. I haven't seen you around since then either, you promised me a raincheck on that drink we were going to have."

"I've been… it's complicated." She tried to smile. "Anyway, there'll be plenty of chances now that we'll be working together."

"I'll take you up on it. The police just arrested a man for killing his wife and her lover. Will you do the arraignment?"

"Sure."

He handed her the case file. "Ask for remand- the motive is strong, an eyewitness puts Steven Baker- the defendant- at the scene, and the police found blood on the clothes he was wearing that day, and he has tons of money, a vacation house in Italy, and a yacht in the Bahamas."

"This one should be easy, at least the arraignment."

"Don't be so confident. He's being defended by Melissa Goring."

"Who? I've never heard of her."

"She moved to New York four months ago and has already gotten three high profile clients off. Don't you watch the news? The Sara Wisburn case? The Tom Ashley case?"

Geneva stared at him blankly for a second, then explained, "I've been pretty out of touch with everything for the last couple of months."

"Think of her as Danielle Melnick without the political issues and with even less of a conscience. You'd better go now, Steven Baker's arraignment is in twenty minutes."

Geneva got to the court with just enough time to slip into the bathroom and try to cover the bags under her eyes with makeup. She was just trying to wipe her goopy concealer out of her eyelashes with a piece of toilet paper when an elegant redhead entered the restroom.

"You might want to use the powdered kind, or try getting some sleep," she advised Geneva, offering her a makeup wipe, which Geneva accepted gratefully. "I'm Melissa Goring, by the way."

"Geneva Williams. I've just been warned about you. I'm helping prosecute your client."

"Oh." Melissa seemed unconcerned. "Our arraignment's in just a minute, we'd better go." They walked over to the courtroom together, and got to their places just as the judge set bail at a thousand dollars for the defendant before Steven Baker.


	2. Chapter 2

"Docket number 017894, People v. Steven Baker, two counts murder in the second degree," the bailiff announced.

"How do you plead?" Judge Amber Smith asked Steven Baker, the surprisingly young, unsurprisingly well-dressed man who stood next to Melissa.

"My client pleads not guilty on one count and justifiable homicide on the other count."

"Which count is which?"

Melissa nodded to her client, who said, "Bill Redly killed my wife, and I killed him. Justifiably. Uh, to save my daughter's life."

"The people found no evidence of that, your honor," Geneva spoke up. "We believe that Bill Redly was having an affair with Carrie Baker, the defendant's wife, and he killed them both. We're asking for remand. Mr. Baker is very wealthy and has more than ample means to flee the jurisdiction, and even has a vacation house in Italy and a yacht in the Bahamas. And an eyewitness put the defendant at the scene, the victims' blood was found on his clothes, and we have several witnesses who can testify that Carrie Baker and Bill Redly were having an affair. And there is absolutely no evidence that anyone besides the defendant killed Carrie Baker, or that Bill Redly killed anyone."

"That's because the police weren't looking. I guarantee that if the M.E. tests Redly's hands for gunpowder residue, it will show that he shot Carrie Baker. My client defended his young daughter from a violent murderer. He should be given a medal, not put in prison!"

"Save it for the trial, Ms. Goring. Your position on bail?"

"My client should be released on his own recognizance. He is anxious to have his day in court and prove his innocence; he has no reason to flee. I addition, he is the sole caretaker of his four-year-old daughter, who already just lost her mother-"

"Because the defendant killed her!" Geneva interrupted.

The judge gave her a stern look, then said, "Bail is set at $100,000. Next case."

"The judge set bail at $100,000 dollars; he paid the whole thing in cash and is out on the street," Geneva informed Jack McCoy a few hours later. "They're claiming that Bill Redly killed Baker's wife, and Baker then killed Redly to protect his four-year-old daughter. Justifiable homicide. I called the M.E. and asked her to do a gunshot residue test on Redly's hands, she'll get back to us on it."

"Do you think there's any truth in it?"

"I think the whole defense was his lawyer's idea, and she told him what to say. I see what you mean about her." Although besides for the fact that Melissa Goring was an evil defense attorney, Geneva thought she seemed nice.

"We should talk to his daughter. If he was defending her, she must have been there, and if not she might have seen him kill her mother."

"And of course Steven Baker's just going to let us talk to his four-year-old daughter?"

"Find out if she goes to preschool."

At ten o'clock the next morning, Geneva and Jack arrived at Young Minds Preschool. After they had assured Mrs. B, the preschool teacher, that four-year-old Alyssa Baker was not a suspect, she led them out to the playground.

Alyssa Baker, a small girl with curly blonde hair, was perched on the top of the very top rung of the jungle gym chatting wildly with several other little girls. When Mrs. B called her, se jumped straight down and ran over. They all sat down at a picnic table.

"Hi, Alyssa, my name's Geneva and this is my friend Jack."

"Hi!" She turned to McCoy. "That boy over there," she pointed across the playground to where some boys where playing, "is named Jack too, and he's smelly."

Geneva laughed and asked, "We were wondering if you know what happened to your mom?"

"Mommy went to heaven. That's what Daddy told me."

Geneva leaned toward the little girl conspiratorially. "Where you there when your mommy went to heaven?"

Alyssa shook her head. "No. The police took her away in a bag. I guess she must have left from the police station."

Geneva wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, but she did neither, and asked, "Did you see what happened before the police took you mommy away?"

"It's a secret," Alyssa told her.

"Oh, you can tell me."

"Mommy was playing with Bill," Alyssa whispered. "I wanted to play to but Mommy said no and told me to go play in the other room. Then Daddy came home and asked me where Mommy was and I told him she was playing with Bill in her bedroom and he went in and I followed him because I was bored of playing with my tow-truck and Bill and Daddy were yelling each other and Mommy was sleeping on the floor and then Bill saw me and started to yell at me to go away and then Daddy saw me and told me to go so I went out of the room and then there was a big noise, and then Daddy came out of the room and he was crying. And then the police came and took Mommy away and then she went to heaven." Alyssa lowered her voice to a whisper again and said, "Daddy said that Mommy went to heaven, but Bill went to _hell_."

"Alyssa, this is really important, did anyone in the room have a gun?"

"Daddy did. He was waving it around when he was yelling at Bill."

"Okay, thank you very much Alyssa."

"You're welcome."

Once they were in a cab, Jack said, "Steven Baker had the gun and Alyssa was already out of the room when Bill Redly was shot. Her story directly contradicts Baker's claim of self defense. If we can get her testimony into court."

Geneva nodded but said nothing. Questioning Alyssa had been mentally and emotionally straining.

After a few minutes Geneva's cell phone rang. "Geneva Williams.… You got the results?… How sure are you?… So he definitely didn't shoot anyone…. Okay, he didn't shoot anyone with a handgun since he washed his hands, it means the same thing for our case…. That's right…. Oh really? Yes, I could see her doing that. Thank you very much." After hanging up, she told Jack, "That was Dr. Rogers. There was no gunshot residue on the Bill Redly's hands. She also said that since Melissa Goring was the defense counsel she also tested Carrie Baker's hands for GSR, and they were also negative. All of which fits with our theory of the crime and what Alyssa said."

Once back at the DA's office, they informed Branch of what Alyssa and the medical examiner had said. Although he was glad that Steven Baker was a murderer, not a hero who'd saved his daughter from being killed, his response was, "I don't know of any judge that will let you call a four-year-old as a witness. Try making a deal."


	3. Chapter 3

Geneva and Jack sat across from Melissa and Steven Baker. "There was no GSR on Redly's hands." McCoy said. "And Alyssa Baker told us that her father was the one holding the gun."

Melissa smiled. "My client would like to make a deal."

"Keep talking."

"Full immunity in ex-"

"He killed two people and he wants full immunity? You're out of your mind."

Melissa ignored him. "Full immunity in exchange for testimony that will allow you to catch and convict a serial killer who you don't even know exists who has killed over twenty people."

"Man one, twenty-five to life, in exchange for information about this serial killer."

Melissa shook her head. "No deal. Full immunity for my client, or else you'll never find out about this serial killer- who will keep on killing."

"We'll get back to you on it," Jack said.

"You want to investigate, try to find the serial killer yourselves? Be my guest, you won't learn anything. We'll give you until noon tomorrow. Mr. Baker's daughter is sleeping over a friend's house tonight, but he wants to be out in time to pick her up from kindergarten tomorrow."

Melissa Goring was right. The police talked to everyone Steven Baker had shared a cell with, his neighbors, friends, and even Alyssa, but nobody knew anything about a serial killer or even missing or dead people.

"Take the deal," Branch finally ordered. "How will it look when the press finds out that we could've stopped a serial killer but didn't, and more people were killed?"

At noon the next day, Jack McCoy said, "We'll take the deal. Full immunity once the serial killer has been convicted."

"Nope. My client won't be responsible for any mistakes you or the police might make. First you grant full immunity, then Mr. Baker will give you all the details you need to arrest and convict the serial killer."

"He'll have to testify."

"Of course. So we have a deal?"

Grudgingly, Jack agreed.

"Tell them," Melissa advised her client.

"His name is Bernard Shearbee. He killed at least twenty-three people. I don't know all of there names, some of the ones I know of are Davita Moore, Carl Hunter, Lydia Stone, and Mary Smith. The ages of the victims range from twelve to forty-six, to my knowledge. The bodies are buried in Shearbee's basement. Also, I have reason to believe that several of his victims are still alive, either they got away or he let them go."

Geneva wrote down every detail Baker said.

"How do you know all of this?" Jack asked.

"Uh-uh, that wasn't part of the deal," said Melissa.

"The deal was that he gives me enough information to convict the serial killer. If I'm going to put him on the stand, I'll have to ask him how he knows all this."

"Sure, you can ask him, but he'll plead the fifth."

"Which will cause him to loose credibility with the jury. And I gave him full immunity, there's nothing for him to plead the fifth about."

"That extends to an other crimes my client may have allegedly committed, not just the murders?"

"_Full_ immunity, you know what that means."

"Tell them, Steven."

"I tapped Redly's phone, to prove that he was having an affair with my wife. I heard Shearbee tell him about it. Redly was his cousin or something."

"Is that all you know?"

"Yes. If I remember anything else I'll tell you."

"Get a warrant for Shearbee's house and have the police investigate," Jack told Geneva.

TBC

_I know this is really short, and I'll try to post more soon. The next chapter will have more about Geneva's secret and also __the police's investigation into the serial killer._


	4. Chapter 4

_I still don't own any characters from Law & Order or Law & Order: SVU. I own Geneva, her brother Dayle (who is an SVU detective, but I made him up, he's not actually in L&O: SVU), Melissa Goring, and all the victims and perps._

Detectives Green and Cassady knocked on the door of Bernard Shearbee's residence, a normal-looking house in the suburbs.

"Who is it?" a voice called though the door.

"Police."

The door opened. Standing behind it was a thirty-something man wearing a Wal-Mart uniform. "Is this going to take long? I'm on my way to work."

"Are you Bernard Shearbee?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Then you're going to have to call in sick," Nina told him. "We have a warrant to search you house. Please wait outside with Officer Biggs."

The man did not appear at all disturbed, which the detectives found suspicious. "That's fine, detectives."

The detectives began to search the house. At first, they found exactly what you would expect to find in any suburban home- furniture, nick-knacks, the random items that everyone owns. It appeared that he lived alone, although on the nightstand sat a wedding photo.

It was not until they got to the basement that they found anything unusual. The basement contained no evidence of any crimes, just tools and the kind of random junk people keep in basements- but it did have a trapdoor in the wall. And as soon as Detective Green began to pry it open, the smell of rotting flesh seeped into the basement.

"Call the M.E," he began to tell Detective Cassady, but she was already dialing.

The large room the trapdoor led to stank of death. It was dark, but using flashlights the detectives saw large piles covered with tarps lined against one wall. Detective Cassady swept the tarp off the first pile to uncover a heap of rotting bodies. The other two piles were the same.

The opposite wall was, if possible, even more disturbing. Arm and leg chains hung from the wall, ready to hold another victim. Next to them, a rusty metal shelf was piled with what appeared to be instruments of torture- knives, a soldering iron, sharp pieces of metal with purposes even the hardened detectives did not want to think about. On the other side of the chains was a cattle trough and a water tap. The rim of the trough was smeared with blood.

"Let's go arrest the bastard," Nina suggested. There was no doubt now that Steven Baker had been telling the truth. They went back through the house, the normalcy of it disturbing now that they knew what lay below. They were both glad to walk out the front door.

"Bernard Shearbee, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed to you free of charge. Do you understand these rights that I have just read you?" Detective Green read Shearbee his rights as they handcuffed him and put him in the police car.

The medical examiner determined that there were forty-three bodies in Shearbee's basement. The most recent had been killed only a few days earlier, some of the oldest were mere skeletons. The victims varied in age, race, and gender. They had only one thing in common- they had all been tortured, drowned, and stored in Shearbee's basement.

Geneva sat on her bed, staring at nothing, tears rolling down her cheeks.. She had been to Shearbee's house earlier that day, but it was not the case that depressed her. They had caught him, he wouldn't kill anyone else, and it would be an interesting case. She was looking forward to the trial, actually. Assuming he didn't take a plea, but she didn't think he was the type.

What disheartened Geneva was the letter that had arrived in the mail. It said nothing new, but reminded her of the weight that lay on her shoulders. She wished more than anything in the world that she could tell someone about everything- a friend, a psychologist, her brother, or most of all, Jack McCoy. But she knew she had to keep silent, and the burden of that tore at her.

Her brother, Dayle, knew. She couldn't tell him anything any more than she could tell anyone else, but when she had gone missing he had went after her, and found her. He'd seen her in the state she had been in- bruised, broken ribs, some other physical injuries, but most of all, her spirit was almost gone. She hadn't been able to tell him what happened, but he knew where she'd been, and he wasn't stupid.

Dayle wasn't home though. He was a detective in the Special Victims Unit, and he was out working on the same serial killer case she was going to prosecute. His unit had gotten involved because a kidnapping they had been investigating turned out to be one of the dead bodies found in Shearbee's basement. Geneva knew that at that moment, Dayle was probably giving a family the bad news. Naturally, the thought brought her no comfort.

After a long time of sitting there crying and trying not to remember, Geneva finally fell asleep. Her dreams were not pleasant.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

_I still don't own Law & Order._

"Docket 017960, People v. Bernard Shearbee, forty-three counts murder in the first degree."

"How does the defendant plead?"

"Not guilty," Shearbee announced.

"The people ask for remand. The defendant is a serial killer who will continue to commit murders if let out on the street. The bodies were found in his basement and we have a witness who will testify that he overheard the victim bragging about his crimes."

Shearbee's lawyer didn't even try to ask for bail.

"You got me at serial killer, Ms. Williams. The defendant is remanded," said the judge.

Geneva was reading the autopsy reports the M.E. had finished when Jack McCoy came in. "The police found a victim who got away," he told her. "We're going to talk to him now."

The victim, William Jacinth, lived in a tiny apartment on the twenty-seventh floor of a run-down building. He looked through the peephole three times before unlocking the three deadbolts and letting them inside. His living room was spartan- the only things in it were a thick white carpet covering the floor and a bookshelf on the back wall. Once they had stepped inside, he locked each of his locks, then sat down on the carpet.

"Sit down. Please, sit down." He was obviously uncomfortable with them towering over him, so they sat down on the carpet as well.

"I really want to testify. I want to make sure that monster goes to jail for the rest of his life, and then some."

"Tell us what happened," McCoy told him.

The man nodded. He took a deep breath, then began, "It was four years ago. Four years, two months, and eight days ago. I was married then, I lived in a nice house with my wife. I was walking home from the subway when… when he grabbed me. I think he chloroformed me or something. I woke up… in that… _place_. I don't know where, exactly, or even what it was. I was- my hands and feet were chained to a wall. My clothing was gone. Across from me were piles- they were covered with tarps but the smell… I knew what they were." He shuddered violently.

"I was alone, at first, I don't know for how long, but then he came in. I- I can describe him, I think. He looked so normal. He was wearing blue jeans and a sweater. He looked like- like someone _I_ would know. But his eyes- the way he looked at me…" He shuddered again.

"There was a shelf next to me. It had things on it- instruments of torture. He took a knife and began to cut me- not deep, just long, winding cuts across my chest- like the way you'd pick up a pen and doodle, only with a knife, cutting into my skin! He did tat for a while, and then he took a- it was a soldering iron, and he heated it up and started," he took a deep breath, "started burning me. And then e would put that down and cut me again for a while, or start clawing at me with those… they were pieces of metal, horrible… I don't know how long he tortured me for. He would take breaks, then come back and start again. Finally, he came back with a knife- a big knife, bigger than the one he'd cut me with. He put it to my neck, I thought he was going to kill me and I didn't know whether to despair or be glad that the torture would finally be over. Only he didn't, he held the knife to my neck and unlocked the chains on my hands and feet and made me walk over to this- tub, I guess, filled with water, and he pushed my head in and held me under. I thought I was drowning, I _was_ drowning, only somehow I managed to fight, I got my head above the water, twisted away from him, and ran. I got out of that place, ran through a house, out into a street, I was still naked but it was the middle of the night and there was no one there to see. I didn't look back to see where I was, I should have, I know that now, but I just didn't. I ran until a police car pulled up next to me. I told them what happened. They took me to their squad, gave me some clothes, took me home, eventually. They investigated, I guess, but they never found him. I couldn't sleep. I left my wife, moved here. No one bothers me here."

He looked up at them. "You can't imagine what its like. Before something like that happens to you, you can't imagine what it's like. But afterwards…" He didn't continue.

"Afterwards," Geneva finished for him, "you can't imagine- can't even remember- what life was like without that hanging over you."

He looked at her, surprised. "Yes," he said. "Exactly."

Once the two prosecutors were in the creaky elevator, slowly inching toward the bottom floor, Jack said, "What you said in there- it sounded like you were speaking from personal experience."

Geneva didn't say anything at all. She wished they weren't in a closed space, so she could make a hasty exit. The elevator began to feel claustrophobic.

Finally, she changed the subject. "He'll make a good witness."

Jack McCoy was not fooled. Geneva's reaction, or lack of it, had confirmed what she had refused to. She had been speaking from personal experience.


	6. Chapter 6

_I still don't own Law & Order or SVU. I do own Geneva, her brother Dayle, Melissa Goring, Kate Shard, and the victims and perps._

They were silent for the rest of the elevator ride, and in the cab back to the office. They'd both been reading M.E.'s reports for half an hour when Geneva finally spoke.

"Didn't Baker say that "several" of the victims were still alive?"

Jack looked up. "That's right. Let's see if we can find out who the other ones are. Call Baker and see if he knows anything more. No, call is lawyer- she won't be happy if we talk to him without her."

"Sure." Geneva picked up the phone and called Melissa.

"Melissa Goring here."

"This is Geneva Williams."

"I read that you arrested Shearbee. I'm glad my client's information was helpful to you." Geneva could hear Melissa's smile through the phone.

"I'm calling because of something your client said- he mentioned that several of Shearbee's victims escaped. We found one, and we were wondering if he has any information that can lead us to any others."

"Sure, I'll call him and get back to you."

"Couldn't you just have him call us?"

"No." Melissa hung up.

Geneva sighed, and went back to reading autopsy reports. About five minutes later, her phone rang.

"This is Melissa. I talked to my client, and he say that he believes one of the victims who survived may be Mary Smith, but he's not quite sure. Apparently Shearbee wasn't very clear with his pronouns, so Mary Smith might or might not be the woman who kicked Shearbee in the balls and escaped two months ago. That's all he knows."

"That could be helpful, thank you."

"You're welcome. Hey, I'm going out for drinks with some friends after work, do you want to come?"

"Sure, if I get off in time" Geneva agreed.

Once they'd hung up, Geneva told Jack, "There was a woman who kicked Shearbee in the balls and escaped, two months ago, her name might be Mary Smith."

"We can start looking through all the Mary Smiths in New York," he said with a sardonic smile. They both knew that with a name that common, it would be hard to find the right person, even if she was the victim who escaped and not one of the ones in the morgue. "And the police are looking for crimes reported with similar M.O.s."

"She might not have reported it."

"If you were kidnapped, tortured, and almost murdered, wouldn't you report it?"

Geneva mentally winced and ignored the question. "Lets see if anyone named Mary Smith was reported missing about two months ago."

"Good idea. Call the police, tell them that there might be a victim named Mary Smith who got away, and have them run it through missing persons."

Geneva called Lieutenant Van Buren and explained about Mary Smith. Van Buren told her she'd put her detectives on it and get back to Geneva as soon as they found out anything.

Two hours later, Van Buren called back. "A woman named Mary Smith was reported missing by her boss two months ago. Five days later she called and said she'd gone on a vacation without telling anyone. But, she wouldn't come down to the station. It could be nothing…"

"Or it could be a big break in our case." Geneva got Mary Smith's address, thanked Lieutenant Van Buren, and hung up, then told Jack.

It was just getting dark when Geneva stepped out of the cab at the address Van Buren had gave them. No one answered when she pushed the doorbell, so she tried knocking instead. "Who is it?" called a woman's voice.

"I'm from the district attorney's office. Are you Mary Smith?"

The woman opened the door a crack and poked out her head. She looked about Geneva's age. Her brown hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. "Yes. What is it?"

"I need to talk to you. Can I come in?"

"No. I'm sorry, this isn't a good time. Come back tomorrow." She closed the door, and Geneva could hear her lock it.

"Could I just ask you a few questions?" Geneva called through the door. The only answer was the patter of feet running away from the door.

Sighing, Geneva got in a cab and went back to the district attorney's office.

It was eight o'clock when they finished reading the medical examiners reports for the victims the M.E. had finished examining. Geneva said goodnight to Jack and called Melissa.

"Hey, I just got off work, is it too late to join you?"

"No, I'm actually on my way to meet Kate, my friend, why don't I pick you up on the way?"

"Sure."

A few minutes later Melissa pulled up in front of the D.A.'s office in a red convertible. Geneva got in and they drove to the bar, chatting friendlily.

A woman with short blonde hair and wild green eyes sat at the bar, sipping a martini. "Geneva, this is my friend Kate Shard. Kate, this is Geneva Williams."

"We know each other," Geneva said. "I should have known you two would be friends."

Kate Shard was a freelance investigative reporter. The few times she'd done stories on things relating to Geneva's cases, she'd been a true pain in the ass. But she usually wrote about things more interesting than cases that were already in trial, so Geneva had only crossed paths with her professionally twice. She liked Kate, though, and her brother _really_ liked Kate, or so Geneva assumed from the sounds that came from his bedroom when the reporter stayed over.

"We're celebrating me being out of jail," Kate explained to Geneva.

"You were in jail? Again? Why?"

"Refusing to reveal a source and contempt of court, what do you think? It was just for a few days though, it wasn't too bad. And the jails in Mississippi are much nicer than the ones in North Korea."

"I'm not surprised," Geneva told the reporter, "But when were you in North Korea?"

"A couple of weeks ago, but they kicked me out. Well, first they put me in jail, but they let me out after a few hours, anyway, it's a really long story. The worst part was I can't publish the article about it, I hate governments."

Melissa ordered a drink, and while she was distracted, Geneva whispered to Kate, "You better not have told her about the envelope I gave you."

"Don't worry, I can keep a secret. And for all I know, there's nothing to tell- for all I know it could be your grandmother's cake recipe. I'm keeping my promise, I haven't opened it."

"And you better not."

"How do you know each other?" Melissa asked.

"I'm sleeping with her brother," Kate answered candidly.

"The detective? _Really_? I'm surprised, he doesn't really seem like your type."

"They make a cute couple," Geneva told her.

Kate pretend to beat her up with a napkin, then asked, "What about you? Any men in your life yet?"

"Nope."

Melissa asked, "So you aren't sleeping with Jack McCoy yet?"

Geneva actually blushed. "No!" Not that the thought hadn't crossed her mind….

They chatted for a while longer, and left sometime after midnight. Dayle was already home when Geneva got to the apartment they shared. It was sort-of weird, living with her brother now that they were both adults, but since he was an SVU detective and she was a prosecutor, neither of them was actually home often enough to get in each other's way, and since they both lived on public servants salaries it saved on rent.

"You're drunk."

"Just a little, I went out for drinks with Melissa Goring and Kate. She says to say hi."

She could see Dayle was relieved. "I saw you got another one of those damn letters. I thought maybe you were trying to drink away your depression."

"Oh, don't remind me! That was yesterday. And you know you're not supposed to see those, anyway."

"What those bastards don't know won't hurt them. It's not like they say much. You know they're just trying to intimidate you."

"And it's working. Not that they need to. I wish they'd just let me forget about it and get on with my life."  
"What, could you?"

"Of course not, but I don't need the constant reminders. Let's not talk about it, especially since you can't know about any of it anyway. I'm going to bed now, goodnight."


	7. Chapter 7

_I don't own Law & Order. I do own Geneva and a bunch of other people including the two Feds in this chapter. _

_Thank you everyone who has reviewed so far!_

"Do you think she'll talk to us this time?" Jack asked Geneva as they headed toward Mary Smith's house.

"I don't know. She said it wasn't a good time and I should come back tomorrow, but I got the feeling she didn't want to talk to me at all and was just trying to get rid of me."

"And it worked?"

"What was I supposed to do, break down the door? I tried to talk to her, she told me to come back tomorrow, shut the door in my face, and ran away."

"You'd think she'd want to help us convict the man who almost killed her."

"Who knows, maybe today she'll be eager to talk to us." Geneva's tone revealed that she did not believe a word she'd just said.

There was no answer when they knocked on Mary Smith's door. They tried the doorbell, and tried knocking again, but there was no response. They were just about to leave when a teenage girl stepped out of the apartment next door to Mary Smith's.

"Are you looking for the woman who lives there? Because she moved out last night."

Geneva and Jack exchanged a glance. "When?"

"In the middle of the night. It was pretty weird, actually, it was like two in the morning and I saw her loading boxes into a moving van. She hadn't been moving before or anything, my dog ran into her living room the other day and everything was normal, well, not that normal, she didn't really have much stuff and she always seemed kind of weird, just sort-of, impersonal, you know, but what I meant by normal was that she wasn't packing or anything, all her stuff, she didn't actually have that much stuff, but anyway it wasn't in boxes or anything, it was where it goes. And then this morning I was taking my dog for a walk and I peeked in her window as I walked by and there was absolutely nothing there, her living room was completely empty, I mean, not even furniture or dust or anything, so she must have moved out completely in that one night, but that's pretty weird, I mean when I moved it took us weeks to pack up all our stuff, and then we had to clean the house and everything- although I guess since she only moved here maybe two months ago or something it wouldn't be as hard, but still, I thought it was suspicious."

Geneva agreed with the garrulous girl- the circumstances of Mary Smith's move were suspicious, especially coming right after Geneva had tried to talk to her. Apparently, Mary Smith had something to hide.  
During the cab ride back to the office, Geneva called Lieutenant Van Buren again and asked her to have her detectives check on whether there were any outstanding warrants for Mary Smith, or if she had a criminal record.

A few hours later, Van Buren called back. "Smith is completely unknown to the criminal justice system. There are no warrants on her, she's never been arrested, never been a witness in anything- apparently. But the thing is, there's nothing else on her either. As far as we could find out, Mary Smith didn't exist until four months ago."

"So it's a fake identity? Do you have an idea why- is she a fugitive, undercover, in witness protection?"

"Sorry, that's all we've found out so far. If I learn anything else I'll get back to you."

Almost immediately after she'd hung up, Jack appeared in the doorway. "Branch wants both of us in his office."

"Mary Smith is an assumed identity," Geneva told him as they walked down the hall to Branch's office. "She didn't exist until four months ago."

He looked at her, surprised. "Any idea who she was before that?"

Geneva shook her head. "The police are trying to find out more, but right now we don't even know if she just had a fake passport or if she was given a new identity."

They were so deep in conversation about the fake identity of "Mary Smith" that they were already in Branch's office before Geneva noticed the District Attorney's two guests. When she did, her face morphed into an expression of panicky terror, and her body language became that of a deer frozen by the headlights of an oncoming car. After starring horror-stricken at the two men for only an instant, she mumbled, "I need to go, I'm not feeling well," and began to bolt from the room.

"Please stay, Ms. Williams," said the younger of the two men, his tone icy. Her lips barely moving and no sound escaping from her mouth, Geneva muttered, "Fuck you!" but did not leave. She glared fiercely at the two men, yet her gaze held not only hate and defiance but also sheer terror. Standing next to her, Jack could hear her heart racing.

Branch seemed oblivious to Geneva's reaction as he made the introductions. "This is Special Agent George Maxwell and Special Agent Ray Cork," he said, gesturing to each In turn. Maxwell was the younger one, Cork the older. "And this is my EADA Jack McCoy and ADA Geneva Williams."

"We've met," said Special Agent Maxwell, his eyes glittering cruelly. Suddenly Geneva's defiance melted and she could not look at the special agents. Her head dropped and her shoulders slumped and she wished she was dead.

Jack McCoy put his hand on Geneva's arm and she managed to look up. "What do you want?" she asked the Feds, her voice almost a whimper.

"We believe you're looking into the background of a woman named Mary Smith, is that correct?"

"She was almost the victim of a serial killer. We want to talk to her."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible. The woman you are looking for is an undercover CIA agent investigating a man suspected of selling plans for military aircraft to foreign governments," Special Agent Cork informed them.

"Why are _you_ involved with this? Your expertise leans more towards… interrogation than counterespionage, doesn't it?" Geneva managed to speak up.

Both Feds fixed their icy glares on her. "We were assigned to this case because of our special… rapport with you," Special Agent Maxwell finally answered, smirking. It was fortunate for him, and perhaps for Geneva, that there were no heavy objects that she could throw at him within her reach.

Special Agent Cork returned to the subject. "You won't be able to use Mary Smith as a witness. She cannot blow her cover by testifying against some garden variety serial killer."

Jack was surprised at the man's callousness. "Agent Cork, this serial killer brutally tortured and murdered at least forty-three people!"

Branch interrupted. "Can you make your case without Mary Smith?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then do it."

"Fine!" He stormed out of the office. Geneva followed him before either of the Feds could hold her back.

"What was going on in there?" Jack asked her once they were away from Branch's office.

Geneva looked at him, searching her mind for something to say. Finally she said, truly meaning it, "I wish I could tell you."

Jack McCoy did not give up that easily. "What did they do to you?"

"I'm not going to tell you. I _can't_ tell you." Although she wanted to more than anything in the world.

TBC

_Please review, I really want to know what people think so far._


	8. Chapter 8

_I don't own Law & Order. By this time I'm sure you know which characters I own so I'm not going to list them all. Enjoy!_

It was two months since the Feds had denied them access to Mary Smith, and Shearbee's trial was well under way. So far, the prosecution's case was going well. The police had testified to what they'd found in Shearbee's basement, and what they knew about the victims they had been able to identify. The medical examiner had testified about what had been done to the forty-three victims. The defense had not done much yet; the only questions Shearbee's public defender had asked on cross-examination, regarding whether anyone else had access to the basement, had actually helped bolster the prosecution's case.

It was now time for William Jacinth to take the stand. And they had agreed that Geneva would be the one to question him.

"Would you please state you name for the record?"

"William Jacinth." His voice was scared.

"Mr. Jacinth, please tell us what happened to you on November 4, 2002?"

"I was… abducted."

"How did that happen?"

"I… I was walking home. It was just a few blocks from the subway. I think I was chloroformed or something, I'm not sure exactly." Geneva expected the defense to object, but he didn't.

"Then what happened?"

"I woke up in… a room. A basement. I was chained to a wall… my hands and feet were chained to the wall. I was naked. Across from me were piles of bodies, they were covered with tarps but I could tell by the smell… it was bodies. I knew… I knew I would be next." Geneva had heard this before, both when she first talked to him and again when she had prepared him to testify, but his words still cut deep into her spirit.

"What else was in the room?"

"Next to me there was a shelf… with, I guess they were… instruments of… torture." He could barely say the word, and Geneva knew exactly how he felt. "There were knives, um, other pieces of metal… a soldering iron, I don't remember if there was anything else. Then on the other side of me there was…" He took a deep, shuddering breath but did not continue his sentence.

"What was on the other side of you, Mr. Jacinth?"

"A… tub, or… I guess a trough is what it actually was. And a tap."

"Was there anyone else in the room?"

"Not… at first. I don't know when _he_ came in."

"Who do you mean by 'he'?"

Jacinth's eyes were full of terror as he said, "Him, the defendant." He managed to look at Shearbee, then quickly looked away, looked everywhere else, trying to avoid the gaze of his tormentor, until his eyes finally came to rest on Geneva.

"What did he do?"

"He didn't… say anything. He was completely silent the whole time. He took a knife off the shelf next to me and-" Jacinth took a deep, shuddering breath, and continued, "He… started cutting me, my chest, not deep just long, winding cuts across my chest like… it was like he was doodling, just drawing swirly lines and spirals, but it was with a knife… on me." A tear leaked from his eye.

"Would you like a recess, sir?" the judge asked him.

"No, I want to get this over with." More to himself than to anyone else in the courtroom, he added softly, "I can do this."

"You're doing good, Mr. Jacinth," Geneva told him. "What else did the defendant do to you?"

"He heated up a soldering iron. Then he burnt me with it, and then cut me more, and burnt me, he kept… switching off."

"Besides for cutting you with a knife and burning you with the soldering iron, did the defendant do anything else to you?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"He… there were pieces of metal, they were different shapes, some were twisted and curved like… claws, some were different, they were horrible…" Geneva held up several bags containing the objects the police had found on the shelf in Shearbee's basement. "Are these the items you're describing?" Geneva tried to sound professional, tried not to let the tumultuous horror she was feeling creep into her voice too much.

Jacinth looked at the bags quickly, then looked away. "People's exhibits 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24," Geneva said, passing them to the jury to examine.

"What did the defendant do?"

"He started… torturing me with them. Jacinth's voice was barely audible. "He… clawed at… my skin with… some of them, I tried not to look… I don't know which. He heated… them, pressed them… into me, into my flesh, he… it was…"

Suddenly Geneva could no longer keep up her professionalism. The tears started to roll down her face. At first she ignored it and tried to keep listening to Jacinth's testimony, to see only him and the courtroom and not the horrible visions that haunted not only her dreams but her entire life, but suddenly she was sobbing hysterically.

"Can we have a recess, you honor?" she somehow managed to gasp through her tears.

"We'll recess for half an hour for counsel to compose herself," ordered the judge.

Still sobbing, Geneva rushed out of the courtroom. "Can you finish?" she asked Jack McCoy, who was trying to talk to her. She didn't know what he was saying, if he was asking what was wrong, if he was telling her she'd probably made them loose the case, if he was saying that she obviously couldn't handle her job, her life. She didn't even hear his answer to her question, just rushed past him, out of the courthouse. Still sobbing, she climbed into the first available cab.

"The one-six precinct," she told the driver through her tears.

TBC

_The next chapter is going to have a lot of SVU crossover. _

_Please review!_


	9. Chapter 9

_I don't own Law & Order or Law & Order: SVU._

_Thank you everyone who reviewed so far!_

Geneva had managed to stop crying by the time she reached the precinct of the Special Victims Unit. Her brother, Dayle, noticed her as soon as she entered the squad room.

"Geneva! What's wrong?" he asked her quietly.

She ignored the question. "You know how you keep telling me I should talk to Dr. Huang?"

"And you keep saying you won't? Did you change your mind?"

She nodded. "I can't tell him what happened, I know that, but I just want to talk to him."

"He's actually here tight now consulting with Olivia and Elliot on a case, but he should be done soon."

"Sure, I'll wait."

"What happened, Geneva?"

"I just- I was questioning a witness, in court. One of Shearbee's victims. I just- broke down. Started sobbing hysterically."

Just then Dr. Huang came into the room with Detectives Benson and Stabler, two of Dayle's coworkers. Dayle went over to him.

"Huang, remember I mentioned that I wanted my sister to talk to you? She finally agreed, do you have some time?"

"Sure. I'll ask Cragen if I could use his office."

Apparently the captain agreed, because Huang led Geneva into his office and shut the door. "Your brother said you wanted to talk to me," Huang told Geneva as they sat down at Cragen's desk.

"Yes. I- Look, I can't really tell you, um, I'm not sure how to say this. What happened, I'm not allowed to tell anyone- could I talk hypothetically?"

"If it makes you more comfortable."

"Say something happens to someone, something… traumatic- is it normal, if they- hear someone else talk about something similar, to start having… flashbacks, I guess."

"That depends on the circumstances, but yes, flashbacks are a common symptom of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."

"What can be done to help with it?" Geneva asked, still struggling for the right words.

"Therapy or a support group can be helpful. Even talking about it to friends or family-"

"But if you _can't_ talk about it with anyone! That's the hardest part, not being able to talk about it. Everyone keeps asking me what's wrong and I can't tell them. I hate keeping secrets." Although Geneva did not even noticed that she had lapsed into first person, Huang did.

"Maybe you could go to a therapist and have confidentiality."

"I asked them that, they said I can't tell anyone, even a therapist or a doctor or a lawyer or my brother."

Huang did not ask who "they" were, he knew she wouldn't, or couldn't, tell him. "But your brother knows, doesn't he?"

Geneva's face grew fearful at the question. "I didn't tell him anything! Anything he knows he figured out on his own, I haven't told anyone, really!"

"That must be hard."

Geneva nodded. "It is. Not being able to tell anyone is almost as bad as the- as what happened."

"Why can't you tell anyone?"

"I don't think I can even tell you that. I guess you could say there are legal reasons."

"I think that talking to someone would really help you, but if you can't do that, other things that can help you cope are things that help make you feel in control of your life. Even something simple like establishing routines can help you regain control of your life. And give yourself time."

Geneva nodded. "Thank you, Dr. Huang," she said as she got up and left Cragen's office.

"I could be much more specific if I had more information. I know I wasn't much help."

That was true, Geneva thought, although at least now she realized that she was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Which she would have thought of before, had she not avoided thinking about the subject of her mental health.

As Geneva left the squad-room, Huang approached her brother. "Your sister really needs help. The way she's going now she's heading for a mental breakdown. You might want to encourage her to seek therapy."

Dayle replied, "Thank you, I'll keep that in mind," but it was clear that he would not follow Huang's advice.

Geneva was just leaving when she ran into Casey Novak, the prosecutor for SVU.

"Geneva, I heard about you getting hysterical in the middle of your trial, what happened?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," Geneva lied, trying to push past Casey.

"Branch is looking for you, something happened with one of your witnesses. You might want to get down there fast."

TBC

_This chapter went a little differntly than I was planning it to because I sort-of mixed the order of things around from what I was planning, but anyway, please review._


	10. Chapter 10

_I still don't own Law & Order._

_Sorry this chapter is so short, but since I'm releasing it at the same time as chapter 9 that should be okay, and Im woring on the next chapter now, so I'll try to update soon._

The TV was blaring when Geneva slipped into the D.A.'s office. "Of course, we can't reveal who the source was and contacts in the CIA refused to comment," a newscaster was saying. "However, according to our source, the victim was going by the name 'Mary Smith' and was investigating possible counterespionage. It is unknown whether her job as an undercover agent contributed to her abduction and attempted murder by alleged serial killer Bernard Shearbee."

"Someone leaked the information that "Mary Smith" was a CIA agent," Branch told her, flipping off the TV.

Geneva looked him straight in the eye. "It wasn't me."

"All right, I believe you. I just needed to make sure before I assure the Feds that the leak didn't come from my office."

"The… the Feds? Agents Maxwell and Cork?"

"That's right. They called me a few minutes ago to chew me out about this and are on their way over here now."

Geneva was silent for a moment, then asked, almost pleadingly, "Do I need to be here?"

"They specifically said that they're going to need to talk to both of you. Wait here until they get here, I'll be back in a while." He left the room.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked Geneva as she stared blankly out the window. He went over and stood next to her.

"Yes. No. I don't know. I'm sorry about what happened earlier."

"It's okay. I doubt it hurt our case, who knows, maybe it'll even get us sympathy from the jury."

Geneva tried to smile, and asked, "What happened after I left?"

"I finished questioning Jacinth and the defense started cross-examining him. So far he's trying to discredit him by asking him about his mental health problems. I'll redirect and ask him whether he had any of those problems before being abducted by Shearbee." He realized she was trying to direct the conversation away from herself and asked, "Where did you go?"

"The Special Victims Unit squad-room. I wanted to see my brother. I also talked to Dr. Huang, their psychologist." She didn't know why she'd told him that, she hadn't meant to.

"How'd that go?"

She shrugged. "What I really wanted was to talk to someone about- something, but I couldn't."

"If you ever want to talk about it, I'll listen."

"Jack, I do want to talk to you about it, more than anything, but I can't."

"You've got that right," said Special Agent Maxwell as he entered the room. Geneva froze at the chilling sound of his voice, which sent shivers down even Jack's spine.

TBC

_Please review! Thank you everyone whos reviewed so far, the reviews really do inspire me to write more!_

_The next chapter has more interaction between Geneva and the evil Feds and Geneva and Jack. And only a few more chapters until the major action starts (no, the major action hasn't started yet, all this about a serial killer and everything is just warm-up)!_


	11. Chapter 11

_I still don't own Law & Order._

"I need to speak with you _privately_," Special Agent Maxwell said to Geneva, giving Jack a look that ordered him to flee.

"No," Geneva said quietly, not meeting the Special Agent's eyes. She looked up at Jack. "Please stay." She was almost pleading.

He didn't leave, of course.

"Ms. Williams, you know better than that." The Fed's tone was beyond menacing, and he leaned forward and whispered something in Geneva's ear.

She turned pale, and said, "Fine. It's okay, Jack. Go. Please."

He knew that it wasn't okay, and when he left the room he did not go far but leaned against the wall outside.

"We have reason to believe you may be involved with disclosing classified information, involving counterespionage of aircraft plans, to the media."

Geneva managed to look him straight in the eye. "You know damn well that if I was going to reveal classified information, it wouldn't be about _airplanes_."

The Fed smiled condescendingly. "Maybe you wanted to get back at us for perceived slights and revealed classified information about leaking the aircraft plans in order to throw suspicion off yourself. After all, if information on… the other thing came out, we would know it was you."

"Look, haven't you figured out by now that I'm not going to tell anyone? I haven't, I'm not going to, and harassing me isn't helping!"

"You say that you're not going to tell anyone, but I can see that you still want 'justice,'" he said the word with a sneer, "and that even _if_ you really are trying not to tell anyone, you're so weak that eventually it will just pop out of your mouth."

Geneva was boiling with rage. "I know that I am a weak, pathetic, coward but I am trying to keep this a secret and it would be a lot easier if you people would stop reminding me every chance you get." With each word, her voice grew louder, until she was screaming so loudly that Jack could hear her through the door. "Yes, I want justice, but I know damn well that I'm never going to get it so I'll settle for you people just leaving me alone!" Her energy spent, Geneva collapsed to the floor in tears.

Special Agent Maxwell looked down at her and smirked. "Maybe you weren't the leak," he told her condescendingly. "You wouldn't have the guts." He left her crying on the floor.

She stood up and wiped her eyes before Jack came in, she wouldn't let him see her in a sniveling pile on the floor. "I'm okay," she said before he could say anything, but they both knew it was a lie.

They stood in silence for a few minutes. Finally Geneva said almost matter-of-factly, "I want to kill him."

"I can understand why," Jack admitted, "although personally I find hearing a jury say the words 'We find the defendant guilty' much more satisfying than seeing that person's lifeless body."

Geneva actually smiled at that, then sobered when she remembered who they were talking about. "Not that there's any chance of ever getting him in front of a jury."

"Since I don't know what he did, I can't say for sure, but even _if_ he didn't do anything criminal, you probably have a hell of a civil case."

"Yeah, if I could actually tell a lawyer or anyone else what happened."

Jack hesitated before saying, "Geneva, keeping it a secret is making you miserable. What's the worst thing that could happen if you did tell someone?"

Geneva shuddered at the thought. She said, not exaggerating or being dramatic but simply stating a fact, "I'd rather die than go through that again."

"When we have witnesses, victims, who are afraid to testify, what do you tell them?"

Geneva shook her head. "This is different. You don't understand.

"What I don't understand is that how you can tell victims that you seek justice and then just give up on it for yourself!"

"So you think that it's hypocritical of me to want to give other people the justice that I don't have? You have no idea how hard it is to keep secrets from everyone you care about!" Neither of them knew who this had become an argument, but it was, and on the way to becoming a shouting match.

"Then why don't you just tell someone?" he demanded.

Geneva turned and fled from the room. As she left, Jack could hear her say bitterly under her breath, "Maybe I'm just not brave enough."

He regretted what he'd said, of course. Geneva was dealing with enough without him adding to her burden. But he did not go after her.

TBC

_Please review!_

_In the next chapter Geneva does something that could be considered stupid- and no, I don't mean she kills Special Agent Maxwell- and has an even bigger fight with Jack!_


	12. Chapter 12

_I still don't own Law & Order._

It was three days since the information about Mary Smith had been leaked to the press. Shearbee's trial was going well; the defense had began its case by calling Shearbee's manager at Wal-Mart's to testify that although he couldn't give Shearbee any specific alibis since the exact time of deaths of the victims were unknown, he could testify that Shearbee worked enough hours that he didn't have time to kill people. Jack had began to rip him apart on cross, and the Court had then recessed for the day.

Geneva was working on finding out if those of Shearbee's victims who could be identified had shopped at Wal-Marts. She had established that many of them had when Jack came in.

"The Feds contacted Arthur. They're still not letting us have access to the victim, but they decided that the leak was probably not us but the man Mary Smith was investigating, Bakr Nazir. They called Arthur because they interrogated him and although he didn't confess to leaking the information, he did confess to killing his wife, and they're giving him to us 'as a favor' to quote Special Agent Cork."

"Oh right, since when do they do us favors? More likely they know the confession's no good and want to palm him off on us. Is there any corroborating evidence?"

"His wife died in a car crash two years ago, everyone thought it was an accident and nobody looked for evidence that the car had been tampered with. The car is now scrap. But Nazir did get $100,000 life insurance."

"So the only evidence of this alleged crime is his confession, which the Feds obtained. This case is so full of holes there's reasonable doubt without the defense even putting up a case."

"Arthur wants us to try the case for some reason, probably politics. And since we're almost done with Shearbee he gave it to us. The arraignment's in an hour."

"Docket number 0248617, People v. Bakr Nazir, one count murder in the second degree."

"How do you plead?"

"Alex Sharpe for the defense. My client pleads guilty."

"No, no! I didn't do it! I plead not guilty!"

"But you confessed!" his lawyer whispered, but loudly enough that both Geneva and the judge could hear.

"I didn't do it! They made me confess, I was tortured!"

"Mr. Sharpe, if your client wants to plead not guilty, you have to let him. The people's position on bail?"

"Um, remand. He did confess, I guess."

"No objection," said Sharpe. His client glared at him.

"Fine, the defendant is remanded until trial."

A few hours later, Geneva, Sharpe, and Bakr Nazir stood in the Judge Barnes's chambers.

"Ms Williams, I'm not disputing the validity of this motion, but I am confused a to why you're the one making it. You're supposed to be the prosecution, isn't that correct?"

"Yes, your honor."

"So why are you trying to exclude Mr. Nazir's confession?"

"The confession was made under torture and should not be admissible."

"But since you're the prosecutor, shouldn't Mr. Sharpe be making this motion and you be trying to argue _against_ it?"

Geneva looked at the defense counsel. "Mr. Sharpe, would you like to help me out and take this out of my hands?" she asked him.

"No, not really."

"You know, you can have a different lawyer assigned to you," Judge Barnes told the defendant.

"No, Alex is a good friend of mine."

"I can understand why you're filing this motion, but I'm not sure whether you should be. I doubt Arthur Branch knows about this, do you really want to loose your job?"

"Your Honor, the day I can't do my job because I believe in the Constitution is the day I quit and move to New Zealand."

"Well, if you're sure about this, motion to suppress the confession is granted. And since that is the People's only evidence, I have to dismiss the case. Mr. Nazir, you can go."

"How'd it go?" Jack asked Geneva.

"The case was thrown out."

"Well, as you said, the evidence was shaky. Did the defense get the confession thrown out?"

Geneva took a deep breath and admitted, "No, actually I did."

"You WHAT??? Are you insane?"

Geneva had expected his reaction and prepared what to say. "Jack, the only evidence to show that his wife was even murdered was his confession, and-"

"So you had the only evidence we had thrown out?"

"His confession was obtained under torture," Geneva went on, ignoring his interruption. "The Feds tortured Nazir until he would have confessed to anything. We can't convict someone because they were being tortured so badly that they would have said anything to stop the pain!"

"That might be a valid point, but you should have let the defense make it!" Jack yelled. "There's a reason defendants have the right to counsel! And just because he _claims_ he was tortured doesn't mean that his confession wasn't true!"

"I would have let the defense counsel have the confession thrown out had he been willing to do so! I couldn't convict an innocent man because his lawyer was an idiot!"

"You have absolutely no reason to believe he's innocent! If you want to defend criminals, become a defense attorney!"

"I don't want to defend criminals, but I don't want to prosecute innocent people either! I saw him, I know Special Agents Cork and Maxwell, and he _was_ tortured!"

"That doesn't mean he wasn't telling the truth about killing his wife!"

"You should know that there's a _reason_ confessions made under torture aren't allowed- because they're not reliable!"

"Confessions under torture aren't allowed for the same reason warantless searches aren't, and it's not about reliability! _If_ it's true and he really was tortured, maybe there's a reason torture _was_ used!"

Geneva's face went blank and she suddenly drew back her hand and slapped Jack McCoy across the face, hard. She then stared at her hand for a moment, as if surprised at what she had done, and ran from the room.

He waited before going after her, thinking about what they had said. Geneva shouldn't have had the confession dismissed, and they both knew it, but he regretted saying what he had about torture. It was obviously a sensitive subject for Geneva, and he had strong suspicions why. She had been out of line in slapping him, but he wasn't going to do anything about it. It was hardly the first time he'd ever been hit.

He finally found her in a bar, having a drink with Melissa Goring.

"I'll go now," the defense attorney said when she saw Jack. As she got up to leave, she told Geneva, "Call me if he file charges. And if you loose your job and get desperate enough to change your mind about representing criminals, my offer's open."

Jack took the defense attorney's vacated seat.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have slapped you and I shouldn't have had the confession thrown out." Geneva's tone was not apologetic, nor angry, but completely without emotion.

"Don't worry about it. If you hadn't had the confession tossed the defense would have, or the case would have been thrown out on appeal. And I've been hit harder."

"If you're looking at the big picture, nothing matters because the human race is going to blow itself up any day now, and it still won't be soon enough," she said bitterly.

"You're cynical when you're drunk."

"Maybe you're just naïve."

"No, you're cynical."

"Probably. Can you blame me?"

"No."

TBC

_The next chapter is very exciting!!!!!!_


	13. Chapter 13

_I don't own Law & Order._

Geneva was shaken awake at three in the morning by Kate Shard. "Geneva, wake up, it's important."

"Huh? What are you doing here? What time is it?"

"It's three in the morning but- no, don't go back to sleep. Geneva! A source just told me that the Feds believe Jack McCoy leaked classified information and they're going to arrest him now!"

Geneva bolted out of bed and shoved her clothes on. "What exactly do you know and how do you know it?" she demanded of the reporter. "And don't give me any crap about not revealing your source."

"Geneva, I honestly would tell you, but I don't know. I got an anonymous tip saying that the Feds believe Jack McCoy revealed classified information to the press and are going to arrest him this morning."

Geneva thought hard, then said, "I'm going to find a judge and get a temporary restraining order stopping them from arresting him."

"Right, wake up a judge in the middle of the night asking for a restraining order with practically no evidence that you even need one."

Geneva mentally ran through a list of judges, trying to decide which wouldn't grant the injunction because there was no evidence it was necessary, which wouldn't grant it because they hated Jack, and which wouldn't grant it because they didn't like being woken up in the middle of the night, and which, if any, would grant her TRO. Finally she said, "Judge Ross used to be his assistant, I'll try her."

"Do you want me to come and tell her what my source said, or should I nose around and see if I can find out anything else?"

"Nose around. Having a reporter tag along doesn't help with most judges."

Geneva arrived at Judge Jamie Ross's house about twenty minutes later. She pounded on the door, held down the doorbell, and pounded on the door some more until the door opened and Jamie's head poked out. "What?" she demanded crankily.

"Your Honor, I'm really sorry to disturb you in the middle of the night but I have reason to believe that the Feds are going to arrest and possibly torture Jack McCoy and I need a temporary restraining order to stop it and I know I don't have much evidence but

It's an emergency and if you could just grant it and if they challenge it we can straighten it out in court but they're going to arrest him any time now and-" Geneva realized she was babbling almost incoherently and shut up.

"You have reason to believe the Feds are going to arrest and torture Jack?" Jamie asked almost disbelievingly.

"Yes."

"Fine." The judge disappeared inside, and came out a minute later with a signed restraining order, which she handed to Geneva.

"Thank you," Geneva called back as she left, rushing to get to Jack's before the Feds.

The door was already bashed in when she got there. At first she thought she was to late, but then she heard scuffling inside, so she ran in.

Special Agents Maxwell and Cork were arresting Jack. Cork was reading him his rights as Jack struggled against the handcuffs Special Agent Maxwell was putting on him.

"Stop!" Geneva cried as she ran into the room. "I have a restraining order forbidding you from arresting him."

The two Special Agents exchanged a shocked look , and Jack looked at her with surprised gratitude. "Let me see that!" demanded Special Agent Cork.

Geneva handed him the restraining order, which he looked over carefully, then handed to Maxwell. After they had each read it, they exchanged another look. Then Special Agent Maxwell spoke. "Fine." He began uncuffing Jack. "We'll let him go." He gave an evil smile. "But it doesn't say anything about you."

Geneva turned pale but did not protest. Jack watched in horror as they arrested Geneva. Her hands trembled in the handcuffs as the two Feds led her away.

TBC

_Please review! And I really will try to update soon, I'm going to start on the next chapter as soon as I upload this one._

_Ha, I just noticed this is Chapter 13. Sort-of fitting._


	14. Chapter 14

_I don't own Law & Order._

Jack McCoy sat in his office miserably. There had to be something he could do. He'd spent all morning making calls to various people, trying to find out where Geneva was and how to get her out, but he'd had no luck. She'd done better. When she found out that he was going to be arrested, she'd done something about it. He remembered her saying that she wasn't brave enough, and saying she would "rather die than go through that again." She had surrendered to her worst fear, for him. And he was sitting there doing nothing.

The phone rang, but he ignored it. He wondered how Geneva had even found out that he was going to be arrested. He'd talked to Jamie, who had signed the temporary restraining order preventing them from arresting him, but she didn't know anything. Geneva had woken her up in the middle of the night almost panic-stricken, begging her for the TRO. Jamie admitted that she hadn't had any legal grounds to issue it, but she had anyway.

The phone rang again, and he tried to keep ignoring it but it kept on ringing, so finally he picked it up.

"This is Kate Shard-"

"No comment." He started to hang up.

"No wait, it's about Geneva Williams."

"I'm really not going to tell you anything about Geneva."

"No, I'm not asking you to. There're some things I need to tell you. I don't want to talk over the phone, could you meet me at this coffeehouse called The Psychedelic Moon?"

"The what?"

"Yeah, I know the guy who owns it, he's a little crazy but he's so paranoid that there's no way this place is bugged."

The address she gave him was tucked into a back alley somewhere. The paint was so faded it was impossible to tell what color it once was, and the windows were boarded up.

He stared, wondering if Kate had gotten the address wrong, but went up to the building and opened the door.

It creaked open slowly. The inside was somewhat less shabby than the outside. There were several small tables with brightly colored tablecloths and the ceiling was hung with wind chimes, but the floor was cement and the walls were pockmarked.

"We're closed," a short, balding man informed him rudely.

"Is this the Psychedelic Moon?"

"Naw, it's Starbucks," the man said sarcastically.

"I'm supposed to meet Kate Shard here."

"Oh, that's you. Come in, she'll be right back, she just stepped into the back room to make a phone call."

Jack sat down at a table and waited. After a minute, Kate Shard came out from behind a beaded curtain and sat down across from him.

"Another espresso?" the man asked her.

"I've had enough coffee, I'll have a chai latte."

"What about you?" he asked Jack.

"Nothing, thanks." The man left.

"Their coffee's better than you'd expect," Kate told him. "But anyway, that's not why we're here."

"So I heard Geneva was carted off by the Feds. Is that true?" When he hesitated, she said, "Look, all this is off the record. I'm not doing this for the story, I'm trying to help a friend. Just tell me."

"It's true."

Kate sighed. "God, why didn't she think of that? I should have thought of that. When she told me she was going to get a TRO to stop them for arresting you I should have known."

"You knew that they were going to arrest me?"

"I'm the one who told Geneva. I got an anonymous tip that the Feds decided you'd leaked classified information and were going to arrest you. But that's not what I wanted to tell you."

"What is it then?"

"About three months ago, Geneva gave me a sealed envelope and made me promise not to open it unless she died, disappeared, or was arrested by the Feds. Those were her words, and if any of those things did I happen I was to open the envelope and make sure the contents got to the press, unless she specifically contacted me and told me not to."

"What was in the envelope?"

"I kept my promise and didn't open it until this morning. Inside was a notarized statement she wrote saying that she'd been tortured by the Federal Government." She handed him the paper, which he read.

My name is Geneva Williams. I'm an Assistant District Attorney for New York. I am not and never have been involved with terrorists or any other criminal activities.

Six months ago I was prosecuting a man named Mohammed Azar. Our case against him was for murder, but the Feds had another case against him for terrorism, and they took the defendant and all our notes on the case.

There was a man we had been looking for, Jamal Azar, the defendant's cousin, who we believed may have been a witness to or involved with the murder. Three days after the Feds took our case, I received a call from Jamal Azar stating that he'd just heard about his cousin's arrest and wished to meet with me. I know now that I should have called the Feds and told them. But at the time he was just a potential witness who might or might not have valid information. I went to meet with him alone. I didn't even tell the senior prosecutor on the case.

The next day I was arrested by Federal agents. They claimed they had information that I was involved with terrorists, including the Azars.

I don't know where they took me. At first I was just in a prison. Then later I was moved somewhere else. I was kept there for five months and tortured.

The Special Agents tortured me almost daily. They used sleep deprivation, starvation, waterboarding, stress positions, sexual abuse, and physical abuse. I won't go into the specifics here.

After five months my brother found me. I don't know how he made them let me go, we never talked about it. I was ordered never to say anything about what happened to me to anyone, even a lawyer, doctor, or priest. I was also forced to sign legal documents saying that I would never disclose any of this.

I have not and am not planning to tell anyone anything, as hard as it is. This is just for insurance.

Geneva Williams

"That's not the worst thing," Kate told him when he finished reading. Her chai latté had come while he was reading Geneva's letter, and she took a sip of it.

"No? What's worse?"

"Today, about an hour ago, Geneva contacted me. That's not right, she wasn't the one who called. It was two Special Agents, Maxwell and Cork. They put Geneva on." Kate's face was troubled.

Jack waited for her to continue impatiently.

Finally she did. "I asked Geneva if she was calling me to tell me not to release this."

"And?"

"She told me no, she wanted me to. Then I could hear her scream. They were torturing her to tell me not to print it. She screamed, and then told me to get it to the newspapers. Special Agent Cork came back on the line and told me that she would suffer if I gave the envelope to the newspapers. I lied, I told him I already had and it would be printed tomorrow morning. I did give it to an editor at the Times right after that."

"You _what_?"

"Jack, Geneva obviously wanted me to. She was being _tortured_ to tell me not to, and she refused." She paused. "But, I left out their names."

"Why? If it's being printed anyway, you might as well tell who they are, make some trouble for the bastards."

Kate shook her head. "I _told_ them that I left out their names. In _that_ article."

The light dawned. "Leverage," Jack realized.

"Exactly. I told them that I wanted to see that Geneva was okay, and if she was I wouldn't print the article with their names."

"Did it work?"

"I set up a meeting for tomorrow at nine o'clock. They wouldn't agree to anytime sooner, they wanted to make sure that the article being printed really didn't have their names. But they're bringing Geneva to my apartment at nine tomorrow for ten minutes. What you need to do is get a warrant for their arrests for kidnapping, torture, witness tampering, anything else you can think of- and be prepared to prosecute them for it."

"It'll be a pleasure."

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

_I still don't own Law & Order or SVU._

It was not hard for Jack to get the warrant. It was hard for him to wait until the next morning for it to be used. Finally, after a sleepless night, he arrived at Kate's apartment.

Geneva's brother, Dayle, and John Munch, another SVU detective, were already there, along with Kate and Melissa Goring.

"What are you doing here?" he asked the defense attorney.

"Kate asked me to come. Just in case something goes wrong and any of you end up needing independent counsel."

"Look at it this way, now we don't have to worry about her defending the Feds," said Munch.

"So what's the plan, exactly?"

"We all hide in the closet, except for Kate. Then Munch and me jump out and arrest the Feds and free my sister."

As juvenile as the plan sounded, there was no particular reason to think that it wouldn't work.

They looked at the story in the newspaper while they waited. It began with Kate explaining how Geneva had given her the envelope, and then simply reprinted Geneva's statement. Those who had not yet seen it were horrified.

At ten minutes to nine, Jack and the two detectives hid in the closet and Melissa Goring retreated to Kate's bedroom. Although the closet was cramped, only Munch complained or made jokes about Kate's clothes; Jack and Dayle were deathly serious. The wait was excruciating.

It was exactly ten when the door bell rang. Kate got up and answered it. Inside her closet, nobody breathed.

Kate let in Special Agents Cork and Maxwell, who had between them a handcuffed Geneva. Her face was badly bruised and she walked as if her ribs were broken.

Once all three of them were inside, Kate closed the door and latched the chain. "On three," Dayle whispered, inside the closet, and quietly counted. At three, he and Munch burst from the closet, guns drawn.

"Put your hands behind your heads!" they yelled at the two Feds, who were blinking in confusion. Special Agent Cork did so, and Munch went over and began to cuff him and read him his rights. Maxwell, on the other hand, began to reach for his gun.

"Put your gun down!" Dayle screamed at him, then lunged and grabbed the weapon. Once the Fed was safely disarmed he cuffed him and began to read him his rights.

Both Special Agents were protesting. They were Federal Law Enforcement Officers, the detectives had no authority to arrest them, they were just doing their job, no one had a warrant.

At that point, Jack stepped out of the closet, brandishing the warrant.

"Unlike you people, we actually follow the law," Geneva told them.

"Docket number 093468, People v. George Maxwell and Ray Cork, two counts kidnapping in the first degree, two counts assault in the second degree, one count sexual abuse in the first degree."

"How do the defendants plead?"

The sleek, well-dressed man standing next to the defendants, said, "Thomas Alexander for the defense. My clients plead not guilty. I would like to add that these charges are ridiculous and completely without merit. My clients were merely performing their duties as federal agents."

Jack was doing the arraignment himself, since it would be a conflict of interest for Geneva to prosecute a case in which she was the victim. "The People ask for remand. The defendants kidnapped and tortured an Assistant District Attorney and are trying to hide behind their positions as federal officials to get away with it!"

"The defense asked that the charges be dismissed, or failing that, that my clients be released on their own recognizance. The People are persecuting my clients because, in the course of their duties, they arrested an ADA."

"And brutally tortured her!"

"Bail is set at $100,000, each. If you want the charges dismissed, file a motion."

"Your Honor, the defense would also like to ask that the trial be expedited. My clients are eager to prove themselves innocent as soon as possible."

"Fine, you'll be notified when a trial date is set."

Jack was summoned to Branch's office as soon as he got back from the arraignment. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I take it you've heard I charged Special Agents Maxwell and Cork."

"_Heard_? I've had three U.S. Attorneys call to complain within the last half hour! I don't know what was going through your head but you cannot arrest them for doing their jobs just because it happened to involve you assistant!"

"Torture goes far beyond 'doing their jobs,' Arthur!"

"Jack, every time anything happens to one of your assistants you go turning the criminal justice system on its head. Just because you're sleeping with the girl doesn't mean you have to be overzealous in your prosecutorial duties."

"First of all, prosecuting people who kidnapped and tortured a woman, who just happened to be Geneva, is not overzealous, and secondly, I'm not sleeping with her."

"Huh. Well, you know the defense will allege that you are. If you want to go ahead with this, be my guess, but you'd better make sure you have a waterproof case."

When he returned to his office, Jack was confronted by Melissa Goring. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm representing Kate Shard. She has evidence against those Feds, but I want to make sure you give her immunity first."

"For what?"

"Illegally recording a phone conversation."

"Done. What's the evidence?"

Melissa handed him a tape. "Enjoy. And she can authenticate it." She smiled and left.

Jack played the tape. It started off with Kate answering her phone. "Hello, Kate Shard here."

"This is Special Agents Ray Cork and George Maxwell. We're calling on behalf of Geneva Williams."

"About what?"

"A certain document that she gave you. We're calling to request that you do not release it to the press."

"I'll have to hear that from her personally."

"Hold on, we'll put her on."

"This is Geneva." Her voice was faint, weary, utterly emotionless.

"Are you calling to tell me not to release the document you gave me?"

"No, give it to the newspapers." Now her voice was tinged with defiance.

Then came a bloodcurdling scream that chilled Jack's bones. Knowing that it had came from Geneva only intensified the horror. In the background, he could hear Maxwell, say, "Want to rethink that answer, bitch?"

"Print it!" Geneva yelled.

Then only Cork was on the phone. "Despite your friend's bravado, it would not be wise for you to release the document in question. Things could go very badly for your friend if you do."

"I'm sorry, it's too late, I already gave it to my editor."

"Then I guess we have nothing more to discuss."

"Wait. We can discuss the follow up article."

"Follow up article?"

"The article that will be printed tomorrow didn't include your names."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Yes, I am. I want to know that Geneva's okay. I want to see her in person. If you arrange that, I'll forget about the follow up article."

The rest of the tape was Kate arranging for them to bring Geneva to her apartment. Jack finished listening and clicked it off.

The tape would be gold in the trial. Assuming he could get it admitted.

TBC

_Next chapter is about the Shearbee case. And Im really excited about the chapter after that!_

_As always, please review:)_


	16. Chapter 16

_I still don't own Law & Order._

_Thank you so much everyone who reviewed!_

Since Jack was busy with the case against Special Agents Maxwell and Cork, Geneva finished the Shearbee case. The defense had presented what little case they had- Geneva was surprised they weren't yet begging for a plea deal, but the prosecution's case was so strong she wasn't going to offer them one. All that was left now was the closing arguments.

In the closing argument for the defense, Shearbee's attorney focused on reasonable doubt. Considering that all the evidence was against them, it would have been a good strategy- had there been any reasonable doubt.

The defense finished by telling the jury they had to find Shearbee not guilty, and Geneva got up to make her argument.

"The defense tells you that if there is any reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crimes he was accused of, you have to find him not guilty. He's right. But there is absolutely no reasonable doubt- no doubt whatsoever- that Bernard Shearbee murdered those forty-three people and kidnapped William Jacinth.

"You heard from detectives who testified that they found the bodies in the defendant's basement, to which no one else had access, and that everything needed for brutally torturing and murdering people was found there as well. You heard from the medical examiner who testified that all of the victims were tortured, probably by the "tools" found in the defendants basement, and drowned in water matching the water that came out of the tap there. You heard from Steven Baker, who testified that he overheard the defendant admit to the murders. Yes, the way he came by that information was less than legal, but there's no reason to think he was lying about it.

"And you heard from William Jacinth. You heard him testify to the brutal torture he endured at the hands of Bernard Shearbee. You heard the fear in his voice. Do you really believe he was lying? The defense tried to discredit Mr. Jacinth by asking him about his mental health problems. Who wouldn't have mental health problems after going through what he went through?"

Geneva thought it was somewhat ironic that she was the one saying that, but hid it from the jury. She expected most of them had seen Kate Shard's article on the front page of the_ Times_. She still couldn't talk about what had happened, but Jack was working on getting around the Feds' gag orders and confidentiality agreements.

Geneva finished, "The evidence proves, beyond reasonable- beyond any- doubt, that Bernard Shearbee murdered these forty-three people. The defense failed to offer an alternate explanation of the crime. I'm not going to tell you that for justice to be served, you have to find him guilty. I'm sure you already know that."

The jury was back out in less than half an hour.

"On the first count of the indictment, murder in the first degree of Davita Moore, how do you find?"

"We find the defendant guilty."

"On the second count of the indictment, murder in the first degree of Sara Poach, how do you find?"

"We find the defendant guilty."

"On the third…

It almost took longer for the jury's foreman to tell the court that they had found the defendant guilty on all charges than it had to convict him. Finally the judge asked, "On the forty-fourth count of the indictment, attempted murder in the first degree of William Jacinth, how do you find?"

"We find the defendant guilty."

TBC

_I know, this chapter is so anticlimactic. Don't worry, the next chapter is MUCH more interesting._


	17. Chapter 17

_I still don't own Law & Order._

The trial of Special Agents Maxwell and Cork started two weeks after the day Shearbee was convicted. The courtroom was packed. The only person missing was Geneva, who couldn't be in the courtroom so her testimony wouldn't be influenced.

It took about an hour for Jack and Thomas Alexander to give their opening statements. Then Geneva was called to the stand.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I do."

And the questioning began.

It was strenuous. Geneva cried several times as, for the first time, she revealed what had been done to her. As horrible as it was reliving the experience in telling it, the relief she felt at getting it off her chest was even better than she'd imagined it would be.

"You did good," Jack told her after court had been adjourned for the day.

"Yeah, well, that was the easy part. Tomorrow's when they tear me to bits."

"You should go home, get some sleep."

"Yeah, I'll try." Not like she would actually get much rest- even if she did manage to fall asleep, she was still plagued by nightmares.

"Ms. Williams, you claim that this incident happened several months ago, is that correct?"

"Yes." Geneva willed herself to remain cool, although she knew the hard questions were coming.

"But you didn't report it for several months afterwards. Why not?"

"I never reported it, actually. They arrested me a second time and a statement I'd written and asked to be released only if I died, disappeared, or was arrested by the Feds was released."

"Well then why didn't you report it?"

"They told me it was classified, made me sign documents saying I wouldn't. They kept sending me these letters warning me not to. They told me if I told anyone about it they'd arrest me again."

"Isn't it true that you made up the entire thing?"

"No! Why would I?"

Alexander smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that. Didn't this get you a lot of attention?"

"I don't want the attention."

"Ms. Williams, are you in love with Jack McCoy?"

Geneva looked down at her hands and could not meet anyone's gaze.

"Objection!" Geneva knew Jack had jumped up, could visualize the shocked expression on his face, but could not look at him. "Relevance?"

"Overruled." The judge seemed interested in her answer. "Answer the question."

Geneva could not look up. Finally, in a small voice, she said, "Yes."

"Thank you. I have no more questions for this witness."

"Redirect, your honor?"

"Go ahead."

"Did the defendants torture you?"

"Yes." She still couldn't look up at him.

"Did I ever ask you to lie about anything?"

"No."

"No more questions."

Geneva fled from the courtroom and tried to find some place to disappear to, but was stopped by Kate and Melissa, who had been watching the trial and had followed her out.

"Leave me alone," she tried to make them go away but they ignored her, and eventually the three of them ended up sitting around the table in Kate's apartment.

"Look, it could have gone worse, they could have attacked your credibility a lot more than they did," Melissa told her, probably trying to be helpful.

"It could have been worse? Yeah right, I just said, in court, in front of a huge crowd of people, that I am in love wit a man who I have absolutely no chance with."

"What makes you think you have no chance with him? It would hardly be the first time he slept with an assistant."

"Yeah, because his other assistants were beautiful, smart, confident- not hopeless losers like me."

"Geneva, you are beautiful and you are not a hopeless loser," Kate told her firmly.  
"That's nice of you to say, but it's not true."

"It is true," Melissa confirmed.

"You're beautiful, both of you, I'm not."

"Geneva, take it from one beautiful woman to another- Jack McCoy would be crazy not to want you."

The spent the rest of the afternoon trying unsuccessfully to convince Geneva that she did have a chance with Jack. Finally, Melissa said exasperatedly,

"Look, if you were right, which you're not, it would be better to just face him and get it over with. Go back to your office, he'll just be getting out of the court, and just face him and if you want to completely ignore what you said, you do that, you can just ask how it went with the next witness, and yes, you'll be embarrassed but if you're right you'll get over it, and if not, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. You know you have to face him sooner or later, and the longer you put it off, the worse it will be."

Geneva thought about it, and as much as she wanted to disappear into the ground and never see anyone again, she finally agreed. 

Jack had changed out of his suit and was sitting, just thinking, when Geneva came in. There was an awkward silence

"How- how's the trial going?" Geneva finally asked.

"You're brother started testifying. He's a good witness."

The silence was even more awkward, and stretched on.

After a minute Geneva said, the words pouring out of her mouth almost against her will, "When I was being tortured, all I could think about was you." She hadn't meant to say that, wished she could take the words back.

Until he answered, "At least something good came of it."

"Good?" Geneva asked, confused.

Then he kissed her…

That night, for the first time in months, Geneva did not cry herself to sleep.

TBC

_And I leave the details of exactly what happened there to your imaginations. :_

_Yay, I've been really looking foward to writing this chapter!_

_And now I am TRYING to upload this and is down!!!!!!!! ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_


	18. Chapter 18

_I still don't own Law & Order._

"Where've you been?" Dayle demanded when Geneva entered her apartment the next morning.

"I don't see how it's any of your business; I'm an adult and I don't need to tell you before I go anywhere."

"You're right, sorry," Dayle was curious but knew he'd have a better chance finding out exactly why his sister hadn't come home that night if he didn't press it.

"It's fine. How'd your testimony go?"

"I'm not finished, but it was fine so far. What about you?"

"Mine went well."

"Really? That's not what I heard."

"Well then you heard wrong."

"Kate told me that you did good under direct examination but less so on cross."

"I don't know where Kate got that idea."

"She was _there_, Geneva. And she told me that afterwards she and Melissa spent most of the afternoon trying to boost your confidence."

"Well, it was stressful, but in retrospect it actually went really well. It's such a relief not to have to bottle all that up inside me anymore. I just stopped home to change my clothes before I go to work." She disappeared into her bedroom.

Dayle marveled at the change that had come over his sister. He didn't think her sudden lightheartedness was wholly from testifying, either.

The only question the defense had for Dayle was whether he actually knew, of his own knowledge, what had happened to Geneva while she was in federal custody. He had to answer in the negative.

The People's next witness was Kate Shard. She testified about Geneva giving her the sealed envelope with the specific instructions regarding what circumstances it was to be opened. Then Jack asked, "Did there come a time when you believed those circumstances were met?"

"Yes. I heard that Geneva had been arrested by the Feds. I confirmed it, and opened the envelope."

"Did anything happen to prevent you from sending it to the newspapers?"

"Yes. I received a phone call from the defendants."

"Did you make a tape of that call?"

"Objection!" Alexander screamed, jumping out of his seat. "Your Honor, this tape was illegally obtained, cannot be verified, and is prejudicial!"

"Sit down, Mr. Alexander. I already ruled on this. The tape is in, you can cross-examine the witness about it's authenticity and how she came by it. You may answer the question, Ms Shard."

"Yes."

"Is this the tape?" Jack showed her the tape Melissa Goring had given him.

"Yes."

The courtroom grew almost completely silent as he played the tape. Geneva's scream and Cork's threats clearly had a profound impact on the jury.

"Can you identify the voices on that tape?"

"Yes. The voice that answered was me, the voice that said 'This is Geneva' and screamed was Geneva, the voice that you could hear saying 'Want to rethink that answer?' was Special Agent Maxwell, one of the defendants, and the other voice was Special Agent Cork, the other defendant."

"You recognized the defendants' voices?"

"At the time I'd never met either of them and only knew who they were because they introduced themselves, but I've since heard them speak and can recognize their voices."

"How did you come by this tape?"

"I tape all of my phone calls. I'm a reporter and I like to be able to have a record of all the calls I receive."

"No more questions."

Thomas Alexander stood up and asked, "Are you aware that it's illegal to tape phone calls without the other party's permission."

"Yes, I am."

"And did you have the defendant's permission to tape the call?"

"No."

"Are you being charged with that?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I voluntarily turned over that tape, which until then no authorities even knew existed, on the condition that I would not be prosecuted for making it."

"Ms. Shard, can you say positively that the scream on the tape was Geneva Williams?"

"Yes."

"Are you an expert on scream identification?"

"No."

"Well then how can you be sure?"

"You heard the tape, it's obviously her."

"So besides for drawing a conclusion from the tape, you have no way of knowing who actually screamed?"

"Technically, no."

"Do you know why whoever it was that screamed did so?"

"Geneva screamed because she was being tortured."

"How do you know?"

"It was obviously a scream of pain."

"But you're not an expert on screams, are you?"

"No."

"And even assuming you're right and it was a scream of pain, can you say positively that my clients caused the pain to whoever was screaming?"

"Not of my own knowledge, no."

"No more questions for this witness."

_Next chapter is the Feds' testimony, or maybe just one of them, I'm not quite sure yet. It might be a while because my school starts tomorrow so I wont have as much time anymore._

_Only a few more chapters, which I was getting sad about until I came up with a really great idea for a new story! _


	19. Chapter 19

_I don't own Law & Order._

_Sorry I haven't been able to update sooner, now that school's started again I don't have as much time. _

Geneva took a deep breath and wondered whether she should have come. Dayle had said maybe she shouldn't, everyone else had said it was up to her. And she wanted to see how the bastards were going to try to justify what they had done to her.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"I do," said Special Agent Maxwell. Geneva strongly doubted it.

The first half hour of his testimony was background- his job working for the government, which government agency he worked for was classified, some other background, some other background that was classified. Finally, his attorney asked, "Is it true that you arrested Geneva Williams?"

"Yes."

"Why did you arrest her?"

"A confidential informant told us that she was involved with a terrorism cell."

"Did you verify that information?"

"To the best of our ability at that time, yes."

"How?"

"I'm afraid that information is classified."

"How long was Geneva Williams in federal custody?"

"Approximately five months."

"Why did you hold her for so long?"

"She confessed to being involved with terrorists."

Jack's face was shocked. She hadn't told him anything about confessing. Geneva thought it was probably true, that she had confessed, but she wasn't sure, hadn't even thought of it until now. Sometime during the unendurable pain, she probably had said yes to whatever question they were asking her. She didn't remember, exactly. She wanted to scream to the courtroom that it didn't count, that they'd tortured it out of her, that her confession wasn't true, but she managed to restrain herself; she was not going to give them a mistrial.

"Objection!" Jack cried. "Irrelevant and prejudicial!"

"It shows that my clients had a reasonable belief that Ms. Williams was a criminal, and a reason to detain her," Thomas Alexander said calmly.

"Overruled."

Jack was fuming, but he didn't argue any more. He would tear the bastard apart on cross-examination. Not only for the case, but for Geneva.

"Do you know whether her confession was true?"

"At this time we know that it was not true, and she had no involvement with any criminal activity to our knowledge, but at the time we believed it."

"How was Geneva Williams treated while in federal custody?"

"The same as any other prisoner. Obviously the conditions were that of a prison, but she was absolutely not abused in any way."

"So her claims that you tortured her were lies?"

"I believe they were… exaggerations. We did interrogate her intensely, all within the law. We believed she had information about _terrorists_. However, in no way did we torture or abuse her. Considering that she confessed to something she didn't do, she's obviously not very stable."

Geneva wanted to attack him, claw his eyes out, but she remained in her seat and glared at him intensely.

"What methods did you use to interrogate her?"

"I'm afraid that's classified."

"Did any of the methods you used constitute torture?"

"Absolutely not."

"I have no more questions for this witness."

"We'll recess for lunch. Please be back here in one hour."

"Is it true that you confessed to being a terrorist?" Jack demanded.

"I- I'm not sure. Probably," Geneva answered quietly.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me before that?"

"I forgot." She knew how stupid that sounded.

"You _forgot_ that you confessed to being a terrorist?"

She didn't say anything for a minute, just looked at him, trying to think of what to say to make him understand. Finally, she said, "_If_ I did confess- and I really don't remember- I was in extreme pain, with him standing over me, asking me questions in that voice so cold I knew he had no conscience, no limitations to what he would do, and I was at his complete mercy, and he didn't have any, and it wasn't even that the only way to stop the pain would be to say yes, whatever you're saying right now about me being a criminal is true, because I would never have purposely confessed to something I didn't do, but if you've been tortured for months and are in pain, on the brink of consciousness, and they're… I couldn't help it."

"They will rot in jail, I promise." He knew better than to promise that he would get a conviction, but seeing the pain in Geneva's eyes, he couldn't help it, any more than she could have kept herself from confessing.

The difference was, he would make sure his promise was true.

TBC

_Next chapter, Jack cross-examines Special Agent Maxwell._


	20. Chapter 20

_I don't own Law & Order._

_Sorry it's been so long since I updated, I've been really busy with school and stuff so it might be a while until the next one too. Wow, 20 chapters already!_

"You testified yesterday that you did not torture Geneva Williams, is that correct?" Jack began his cross-examination of Special Agent Maxwell.

"Yes."

"Would you please share with us some of the 'interrogation techniques' you did use?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. McCoy," Maxwell said with a supercilious, I'm-getting-away-with-it-and-there's-nothing-you-can-do-to-stop-me smile, "but as I said yesterday, that information is classified."

"Your Honor, please instruct the witness to answer the question."

Thomas Alexander jumped up. "That information is classified; to reveal it would be a breach of national security!"

"I'll see both of you in chambers."

"He can't commit a crime and then say that it's classified!" Jack argued.

"My client is not the one classifying this information. I'm sure he would be happy to testify as to the exact interrogation techniques he used, as it would show that he in no way committed the crimes he was charged with, but it would be a violation of national security and put our country at risk from terrorists!"

"How exactly would testifying about interrogation techniques jeopardize national security?" inquired the judge.

"If terrorists know what to expect, they can train to withstand our interrogation techniques. And the point is not whether or not it jeopardizes national security, the federal government has already decided that it does, so my client cannot testify about it."

"He didn't have to take the stand! Your Honor, you can't let him testify that he didn't commit torture but not say what he did. It's up to the jury to decide whether his 'interrogation techniques' were torture. He claims he didn't commit torture and I have the right to cross-examine him about it! We can't just take his word that whatever he did was legal because the government knows best!"

"I agree," the judge said after some consideration. "Mr. Alexander, if your client refuses to answer the questions, I'll instruct the jury to disregard his entire testimony."

"If we loose, I'll appeal."

"I'm sure you would anyway. Would you like a recess to consult with your clients?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Fine. We'll meet back in my courtroom in one hour."

An hour later, everyone was once again assembled in the courtroom.

"Is your client prepared to answer the questions, Mr. Alexander?" the judge asked.

"Your Honor, my clients are changing their plea."

Jack and Geneva shared an astonished but hopeful, almost excited look.

"To what?"

"Justification. My clients had to torture Ms. Williams in the interest of national security."

The judge looked skeptical, as did most of the jury, but she said, "Fine. So noted."

"Your Honor, because of the defense's sudden change of tactics, the People would like a recess to prepare."

"Yes, I can see why. We'll recess until tomorrow morning."

"Shearbee's sentencing is tomorrow." Geneva's voice held no emotion as she ignored the subject of the Feds' new defense, as she had been since they'd left the trial.

"If you want to watch the trial we can have someone else handle it."

"Do I?" The bitter words left her mouth against her will. She really didn't want to think about, much less talk about, that trial.

"You don't want to see them admit what they did?"

"I'd love to see them admit what they did. What I don't want to see is them bragging that they tortured me to save our country from terrorists and we should be treating them like heroes. I'll do Shearbee's sentencing. We'll ask for the maximum, of course."

"It shouldn't be too hard to get him put away for several lifetimes."

"No," she agreed, glad to be on a safer subject. "He'd get the death penalty if it was still available."

"Is Jacinth testifying?"

"Yes, and so are the family members of some of the victims. He's the star witness, though. After hearing him, who wouldn't give Shearbee the maximum?

"I wonder what happened to Mary Smith, or whatever her real name is."

"I guess we'll never know," said Geneva. But she was wrong.

TBC

_The next chapter will either be Jack cross-examining Special Agent Maxwell or Shearbee's arraignment, which is NOT a filler chapter, but I haven't decided which will go first yet._

_Please review!_


	21. Chapter 21

_I don't own Law & Order._

_I know this is really short, but the next chapter will be longer and have Jack cross-examine the Feds, finally. It might be a while before I have time to get it up since Im really busy with school and a million other things right now, but I am not abandoning this story._

Rain poured down onto the courthouse steps as Geneva hurried to Shearbee's sentencing. On the way up the steps she passed the murderer, in handcuffs, led by two officers.

She was almost inside the courtroom when she heard the shots. She threw herself to the ground, ignoring the water soaking through her clothes. She did not look up, but she could hear all around her the sounds of people panicking.

There had only been two shots, and when there were no more, she looked around to find out what had happened. Bernard Shearbee was laying on the steps of the courthouse, his blood and brains mixing with the rain and flowing down the steps almost like a fountain. A few yards away, a woman in a bright blue raincoat with the hood pulled up was holding a gun. She was turned away from the courthouse, so Geneva could not see her face, but her heart sank as she realized who it must be.

The officers who had been escorting Shearbee, as well as several other members of the police force who had happened to be on their way in or out of the courthouse, were talking to the woman. Geneva couldn't hear what they said, but the woman nodded, put the gun down, and put her hands behind her head.

Geneva got up and, not really thinking, walked down the stairs toward the police officers and the woman they were arresting. Up close, she clearly recognized the woman who had refused to talk with her, who had disappeared and been hidden by the Feds.

Mary Smith, or whatever her name really was, recognized Geneva as well. "I wanted to testify!" she called out to Geneva. "They wouldn't let me. I had to do something to get justice."

Geneva knew without doubt who she meant by "they," and the knowledge that they had helped ruin yet another life, had in a way caused this woman to throw her life away, broke her heart. "We convicted him! He was going to get life without parole," Geneva told the other woman sadly.

"This way he got death," said the woman who had killed him. Her voice was calm, with just a hint of pride and a touch of sorrow, but her eyes were sad. Geneva thought she saw a tear run down her cheek as the police led her away, but it could have just been the rain.

_Please review. I'll try to post the next chapter as soon as I have time. _


	22. Chapter 22

_I still don't own Law & Order._

_The case I mention was in the episode "Paradigm."_

_Also, this chapter takes place pretty much simultaneosly with the last chapter, which is why Geneva isnt in the courtroom._

"Special Agent Maxwell, to your knowledge, was Ms. Williams's testimony true?" Jack demanded. He didn't know whether, with the defense's new trial strategy, the defendant would admit it.

"Yes," the Fed replied with a smirk. The jury appeared shocked, and most of them glared at him.

"So it's true that you tortured her?" Jack demanded.

"Yes, but I didn't do anything illegal."

Jack did not rise to the bait and ask for an explanation, but said, "I have no more questions for this witness."

The expression of disappointment on Thomas Alexander's face made Jack glad he had not asked more.

"The defense calls Special Agent Ray Cork." So Alexander was going to have the older Fed testify about how torturing Geneva was "justified." It was probably a good strategy, Jack thought, since of the two defendants, Cork was the one who could at least pretend to be pleasant.

Special Agent Cork was sworn in and began testifying. Alexander first asked him the same background questions he had asked Maxwell, but once the preliminaries were over, asked, "Please tell us about the circumstances surrounding Ms. William's arrest."

"We had learned that Mohammad Azar, a suspect that the New York District Attorney's office was prosecuting, was involved with al Qaeda and was responsible for planning several terrorist attacks. We took custody of the suspect. He told us that another man, his cousin, Jamal Azar, was also involved in the conspiracy. We had Jamal Azar followed and saw him meet with Ms. Williams. When we arrested him, he told us that she was the mastermind behind the terrorist plot. Of course, we arrested her as well."

"How did you interrogate Ms. Williams?"

"At first we just asked her questions, but she was uncooperative. Wed been told that she was the leader of a terrorist cell that was planning more attacks. We had to get the information from her. We were forced to resort to more drastic measures."

"Such as?"

"Although the specific details are classified, I can confirm that what she testified to was not untrue."

"Objection!"

"Overruled, I think Special Agent Cork's admission that Ms. William's testimony was true should be enough to satisfy you, Mr. McCoy, and I don't see how it's necessary to make him reveal the specific details of his methods of torture, considering that they are classified."

"Thank you, Your Honor," Alexander said with a smile, before turning back toward his client, cheating out to the jury, of course, and asking, "Why exactly did you feel it necessary to use such extreme methods on Ms. Williams?"

"We believed it necessary to stop a terrorist attack. Think of how many lives could have been saved if we had been able to find out about and prevent the September 11th attacks."

"And did you have evidence to show that Ms. Williams could be involved in planning similar attacks?"

"Yes. Besides for Mr. Azar's statement and the fact that she had been seen meeting with him surreptitiously-"

"Objection to the meeting being characterized as surreptitious!"

"Sustained."

"Well, besides for Mr. Azar's statement that she was involved with the terrorist plot, and the fact that she was seen meeting with him although she had no legitimate reason since the case had already been taken from her, and she didn't tell anyone about the meeting, as she admitted in People's exhibit one, besides for this, she confessed."

"Objection!" Jack shouted. More quietly, he said, "The confession was made under torture and should not be admissible!!!"

"It's not being used against Ms. Williams," Alexander argued.

"I'm sorry, Mr. McCoy, but the confession is in. You can bring up the manner it was obtained on cross."

"What exactly did Ms. Williams say in her confession?"

"She admitted that she had been conspiring with my client and others to commit terrorist attacks."

"Thank you. I have no more questions for this witness."

"What made you realize that she was innocent?" Jack began.

"Nothing. As far as I know, what she said was true."

Jack was suddenly glad Geneva was not in the courtroom. That was not at all what he had expected to hear. . His voice showed his disbelief as he asked, "Were you present when Special Agent Maxwell testified?"

"Yes."

"Would the court reporter read back Special Agent Maxwell's testimony when asked whether her question was true?"

The court reporter read, "Question: Do you know whether her confession was true? Answer: At this time we know that it was not true, and she had no involvement with any criminal activity to our knowledge, but at the time we believed it."

"How do you explain that?" Jack demanded of the defendant.

"First of all, it was my partner, not I, who said that, and while her confession was not specifically true because she had alibis for several of the times we believed her to have met with the other terrorists, there is no evidence whatsoever to specifically show that she was not involved with terrorism, either."

"Do the word 'innocent until proven guilty' mean anything to you?'" he asked sharply, almost yelling.

Cork smiled condescendingly. "Since you deal merely with routine civilian criminals, you have the luxury of being able to use due process. We, on the other hand, cannot let such technicalities get in the way of national security while dealing with terrorists who want nothing more than to destroy our entire country."

Jack tried to think of what to ask the Fed in response, how he could show the jury how truly evil the man really was, but his mind was uncharacteristically blank. The last time a witness he'd been questioning had testified to the desperate measures necessary to secure the country, it had been his witness. He remembered that case now. A woman had murdered an Abu Ghraib guard who had tortured her brother. Jack remembered cross-examining her, trying to show that she had killed out of revenge, asking her if she had hated the woman who had tortured her brother.

"How would you feel if it happened to someone you loved?" she had asked him in reply. Now, he choked back a bitter laugh at the irony of it all.

"Why did you release Geneva if you didn't believe she was innocent?" he asked Special Agent Cork.

"That was not my decision."

"So it was only you who still believed that she was guilty?"

"No, but my superiors were politically pressured into releasing her."

"So you released a woman who you believed was a terrorist?"

"Actually, I was not involved with her release."

Just then, someone approached Jack and handed him a folded piece of paper. He unfolded the note and was surprised to recognize the handwriting as that of his boss, Arthur Branch. He glanced around the courtroom and was surprised to see the D.A. sitting at the back of the room, watching the trial. Jack had thought his boss was trying to distance himself from this case.

He read the note. _Ask why he got G her job as a prosecutor back,_ it read. Although this was the first he had heard of that, he asked, "If you really believed Ms. Williams was a terrorist, why did you help her get back her job as a prosecutor?"

Finally, the witness seemed at a loss for words. "Uh, that was also due to the political pressure being exerted on us."

"So you're saying that you got someone you believed to be a terrorist a job in law enforcement?"

"Um, I'm sorry to have put this burden on your office."

"For your information, Ms. Williams is an excellent prosecutor," he snapped, regretting the words almost as soon as he'd said them.

Because Cork replied sneeringly, "Oh yeah? Is she also good in bed?"

Jack quickly glanced toward the back of the courtroom, and sure enough, his boss was still there. He thought he even detected a slight I-told-you-so smirk on the D.A.'s face.

He abruptly changed his line of questioning. "Didn't Ms. Williams make her confession only under torture?"

"That doesn't mean it wasn't true," the Fed replied.

"Did she say anything in her so-called confession that you hadn't already fed her?"

"I'm not exactly sure. My partner did most of the questioning."

Jack knew he wasn't going to get anymore. The cross-examination he'd been looking forward to, in which he ripped apart the defense's case and left the jury with no doubt that both of the defendants were evil sociopaths who had tortured an innocent woman, had not happened.

He finished his cross-examination by asking, "Isn't it true that besides for the confession you tortured out of her, the fact that she met with a witness in a case she was prosecuting, and the word of a criminal with everything to gain by lying, you never had any evidence whatsoever to suggest that Geneva Williams was involved in terrorism?"

"Besides for all the evidence you mentioned, that's true."

"And isn't it true that you tortured Geneva Williams?"

"Yes," he admitted.

"I have no more questions for this witness," Jack said in defeat.

TBC

_Please review! Constructive criticism is also welcomed._


	23. Chapter 23

_I don't own Law & Order._

_So after two chapters where they don't even see each other, this chapter is pretty much all ineraction between Geneva and Jack. Sorry it's sort-of short. Enjoy!_

Geneva was sitting on the sofa, staring at the ground with a sad expression, when Jack walked into the office. He plopped down next to her and rubbed his temples. "How'd the sentencing go?" he asked her.

"He got death." Her voice was harsh.

Jack looked at her in confusion. New York no longer had the death penalty.

She was silent for a minute before she clarified, "He was shot on the way into the courthouse."

He was surprised, but not shocked; it wasn't the first time a criminal he'd prosecuted had been murdered by a victim, or a family member of a victim, and Shearbee had more enemies than most. "Do they know who did it?" he asked.

She nodded, but was silent.

Jack waited. After what seemed forever, she said softly, "I was on my way in when I heard the shots. I ducked, and when I looked up, he was lying dead, and she was standing over him with the gun. There were police all over, of course. They arrested her right away."

"Who?" Jack interrupted.

She finally looked him in the eye. "Mary Smith. It turns out she wanted to testify after all, they just wouldn't let her. She wanted him to pay for what he did to her, not just for all his other crimes. I can understand it, I guess. I already arraigned her. She pled guilty." She fell silent. After a moment she said, "Please tell me your cross-examination went well and you completely destroyed their ridiculous defense, I really need some good news."

"It didn't go well." It was hard for him to admit.

"What happened?"

"I asked Maxwell if they tortured you. He said yes, but added that it wasn't illegal. Alexander then put Cork on the stand, and he testified that they were justified in torturing you because you confessed to being a terrorist." He knew he that as much as he didn't want to tell her the rest, he had to. "Cork said he still thought that you were a terrorist," he told her as gently as he could.

"God," Geneva groaned. "Do you think anyone will believe him?"

He did; despite everything, the Fed had been convincing. Sociopaths usually are, he reminded himself. "I don't believe him, of course. I doubt Arthur did. Beyond that…"

"That bad," she said sadly. "So the jury…" she didn't finish.

"You never know with juries. His testimony was convincing, not what he said, but his manner. But so were you, and they admitted that they tortured you."

"But that's not the issue any more, is it?"

"Then I'll make it the issue again." He had to win this case.

_The blindfold was tied over her eyes so tightly that it hurt, and she had been tied in this position for hours, or maybe days, or just minutes, she didn't know any more. The silence was suddenly broken by footsteps behind her. She twisted her head, trying to see through or around the blindfold, but it was useless. She had blurred memories of the prison jumpsuit they had given her being torn from her, and she was naked now. She had never felt so vulnerable._

_The footsteps grew nearer until she knew the two men- it was probably just the two, she thought- were standing right around her. She willed herself to be still as she began to tremble violently. One of them laughed, said something degrading that by now she couldn't even comprehend. _

_She tried not to react as her blindfold was yanked off, suddenly exposing her eyes to the light. She had just a glimpse of the two faces that she had grown to hate with all her soul before one of them hit her hard across the face. She tried to bite back a scream, but she must not have been successful, because suddenly_…

…a familiar voice was urging her to wake up, telling her that it was just a nightmare. She tried to look around through the tears that were streaming down her face. She almost screamed again when a hand touched her shoulder, but it was not the brutal touch she had just relived in her nightmare. The immediacy of her nightmare began to fade as she allowed herself to look into the eyes of the man she loved.

What Jack saw in her eyes almost scared him, emotion as raw as if she was living the nightmare for the first time. He had talked to victims, or the relatives of victims, many times, but the pain in Geneva's eyes overshadowed anything he'd ever seen.

"I'm sorry," she said finally. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

He ignored her ridiculous apology. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She nodded, and he held her as she began to speak, her voice full of terror as she described the nightmare, the memory, really. Eventually the terror faded from her voice and they fell into sleep, his arm still wrapped around her.

TBC

_Please review!_

_I think the next chapter will have Jack's closing argument._


	24. Chapter 24

_I don't own Law & Order._

_This one is really short, I was planning on making both closing statements just one chapter, but it seemed like a good place to end. So the next chapter will be Jack's closing statement!_

"Yes, my clients tortured Geneva Williams," Thomas Alexander began his opening statement. "And its understandable for you not to like them. What kind of people deliberately hurt other people?

"Well, George Maxwell and Ray Cork work for the government of the United States of America. It is their _job_ to protect us from terrorists. Sometimes that means doing things that are unpleasant. But if torturing _one_ person could prevent a terrorist attack like September 11, if causing _one_ person some pain could save the _lives_ of thousands more, doesn't it justify it?

"Mr. McCoy knows that sometimes extreme measures can be necessary. He's tried cases where the police were overzealous in their duties. He's even argued for evidence obtained under torture to be admissible. The only reason he thinks my clients are any different is because he… knows Ms. Williams." The tone in which he pronounced the word "knows" left no doubt that he was using it as a euphemism for "is sleeping with."

"You don't have to agree that preventing terrorist attacks justifies torture. What matters is that _my clients_ believed that. They thought- they _knew_- that they had to torture Geneva Williams. They didn't want to. But they _had_ to. Their job is to protect _you_. Don't punish them for doing their job."

Thomas Alexander had given a good closing argument. The jury was paying attention to his every word. Even Geneva, who almost wanted to kill the man, knew that his closing had been powerful.

But she also knew that Jack could do better.

TBC

_Please review!_

_I think I'll be able to have the next chapter up sometime this weekend, maybe even today depending on whether I get stuck or not._

_By the way, does anyone have any suggestions abot the verdict? I'm considering a few different options right now, I haven't quite decided yet, so if you have any ideas, tell me._


	25. Chapter 25

_I don't own Law & Order._

"The defendants tortured Geneva Williams," Jack began. "They admit it. You heard Geneva's testimony. And you heard Maxwell say that her testimony was true. At first he didn't. At first the defense said that they hadn't tortured her. Maxwell initially claimed that she was 'exaggerating' and 'unstable.'

"But the next day he changed his mind and admitted that yes, they'd tortured her, but it was justified. You heard her testimony. Do you honestly believe that anything could justify what they did to her?

"Mr. Alexander told you that the defendants were 'just doing their job.' Just doing their job. Just following orders. They tried that one at Nuremberg. It didn't work then either.

"Cork said that they believed- believe- Geneva Williams is a terrorist. Not only does that contradict all common sense and what Maxwell said the day before, when he said that at this time they know that Ms. Williams had no involvement with any criminal activity, but it also contradicts his own actions. If he thought she was a terrorist, why did he release her and get her a job in law enforcement? And if he didn't think she was a terrorist, then there was no excuse to torture her.

"Not that there would have been an excuse anyway. Geneva told you what they did to her. And you heard the tape Kate Shard recorded."

The courtroom was absolutely silent as he played the tape. Geneva shuddered at the sound of her own scream echoing off the walls.

When he had finished playing the tape, Jack said, "That was one minute and forty three seconds. The defendants caused Ms. Williams enough pain to make her scream in agony in less than one minute and forty three seconds. The first time they tortured Geneva Williams, they had her for five months." He paused to let that sink in.

"There is no doubt that the defendants tortured Geneva- they admitted it. Don't let them get away with it by playing on your fear. Find them guilty."

Geneva prayed that they would.

The judge instructed the jury on the charges and the defense of justification, and the jury went to deliberate.

"Let's get some lunch," Jack suggested to Geneva. "They'll page us when the jury comes back in."

Geneva shook her head. "I'm too nervous to eat."

He knew she was. It was always nerve-wracking waiting for a verdict, and even for him this case was ten thousand times worse. He couldn't imagine how Geneva must feel. "I know, but you can't starve yourself. What if the jury takes days?"

"Then I guess I'll loose a few pounds," she said, and attempted a laugh.

Melissa Goring, who had been watching the trial, came over. "Great argument, Jack. Geneva, go get something to eat. Staring at the jury box actually doesn't make them come back any faster, or even with the right verdict."

Geneva finally relented and went with Jack to a café across the street from the courtroom. She ordered a salad and a mint tea- she was wired enough without coffee. Without even noticing it, Geneva began to shred her napkin.

"I'm scared," she said.

"Me too," he admitted.

"Your closing was good."

"I hope it was good enough."

They sat in silence until the waiter brought their food. Geneva put down her shredded napkin, only then seeing what her hands had done, and began pushing her salad around her plate.

"What if we lose?" she finally asked, her voice so quiet Jack could barely hear.

He didn't know what to say. They were silent again. Geneva took a sip of her tea, but her hands were trembling so much that she spilled some. She wiped it up with Jack's napkin, since hers was nothing more than confetti by now.

"Will you promise me something?" Jack finally broke the silence.

"What?"

"If they do get off, you won't-" he wasn't quite sure how to put it. "Take the law into your own hands."

She looked at him for a few moments. "Okay," she said softly. "I promise." The way she said it made Jack realize that the idea had crossed her mind.

A tear dripped down Geneva's cheek and she wiped it away with the tea-soaked napkin. "I'm sorry," she choked out the words.

"I promise I won't either," Jack said. Geneva stared at him for a second before she realized what he meant.

They sat in anxious silence for a while, until Jack's pager beeped. "The jury's back," he told Geneva. They raced back to the courtroom.

The formalities seemed to drag on forever before the judge finally asked the foreman of the jury, "Have you reached a verdict?"

"We have."

"In the matter of People v. Maxwell and Cork, how do you find?"

"We find the defendants, George Maxwell, and Ray Cork…"

TBC

_Yes, I'm evil. But not so evil that I won't continue it as soon as I can. This is your last chance for any imput on the verdict. Please review!_


	26. Chapter 26

_I don't own Law & Order._

Geneva's heart pounded.

"…guilty."

It took a second for Geneva to understand the words, and more time to absorb them, and her face filled with joy as she realized that the two Feds were going to pay for what they did to her, would rot in jail for twenty five years at the very least, and maybe even for the rest of their lives. She turned to watch the defendants' reactions. The perpetual smirk had finally been wiped off Maxwell's face.

Impulsively, against her better judgment, against all common sense whatsoever, Geneva leaned over and kissed Jack.

He pulled away as several cameras flashed in their direction, but he was smiling.

"I'm sorry," she told him. "That was stupid of me."

"It was stupid," he agreed, "But don't be sorry."

And she wasn't, about anything.

The End

_I can't believe it's over! I know this is really short, and there were some other things I was going to put in, but anything else just made it __anticlimactic, so, this is it. I have an idea for a really great story, but I can't write it until I've seen Aftershock, because it has to do with some thing that happen in that, sort-of, but anyway it never seems to be on. But I also have another idea for another story that I'm going to start as soon as I post this._

_Please review!_


End file.
